Inter edge past Atalanta to claim top spot in Serie A

BERGAMO, Italy, Dec ‌28 : Lautaro Martinez scored to give Inter Milan an important 1-0 win at Atalanta on Sunday, sending his side into the New Year at the top of Serie A.

Inter lead a tightly contested league table on 36 points, one clear of city rivals AC Milan and two ahead of Napoli.

Marcus Thuram appeared ‌to have fired Inter into the lead just ‌before the interval, but the goal was ruled out after an offside by Martinez in the build-up.

Atalanta felt a similar sense of frustration soon after the restart when Nicola Zalewski broke through one-on-one with Yann Sommer, only for the Inter goalkeeper to produce a spectacular leg save. 

Atalanta thought ‍they had struck again when Gianluca Scamacca broke clear, getting around Sommer and finishing calmly, but the offside flag was already raised.

It took until the 65th minute for a goal to stand, as Pio Esposito pounced on ​a defensive error and squared ‌the ball to Martinez who made no mistake to fire Inter into the lead.

The match lost momentum in the closing ​stages, Lazar Samardzic coming closest to scoring when he missed a clear chance to ⁠equalise for Atalanta.

  It was ‌a head-to-head because Atalanta are a strong side who in recent ​years achieved so much in Serie A and Europe," Martinez told DAZN.

 "They are a team to be respected, they were ‍very aggressive and we knew what we were going to face today, but ⁠we prepared well and have to keep improving. I’m happy, this is a gift ​for all the Inter ‌fans, and for our families who stand with us.”

(Tommy ‍Lund ​in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)