Mauro Icardi hit his eighth goal of the campaign as Inter edged “tough” Empoli 1-0 to reclaim top spot as a five-way race for the Serie A crown opened up on Wednesday.
ACF Fiorentina had gone provisional top with a 3-1 win at US Citta di Palermo where Slovenia international Josip Ilicic notably struck a brace to take his goals tally for the season to nine in 18 games.
However, Inter, one of several teams showing they have the tools to unseat four-time consecutive champions Juventus this season, restored their one-point lead thanks to Icardi’s winner on the stroke of halftime.
Photo: Reuters
It was the ninth time this season Inter have won 1-0, but that statistic is unlikely to unnerve coach Roberto Mancini as long as his side keep on winning.
“Empoli are a really tough side at home and [coach Marco] Giampaolo is doing a great job here. We knew from the start it would not be easy,” Mancini told Mediaset.
“It is a good result for us after the winter break. We missed a chance for 2-0 and they had several chances to level because of mistakes we made,” he said.
With Inter, Fiorentina and Juventus all victorious, SSC Napoli were under pressure, but stayed in the hunt with a 2-1 win at home to Torino that moved them back up to third place at the expense of Juve. Between Inter and fifth-placed AS Roma there are now just six points.
Lorenzo Insigne gave Maurizio Sarri’s hosts a 16th-minute lead when he collected Jose Callejon’s delivery to send a delightful lob over the head of Torino goalkeeper Daniele Padelli from outside the area.
At the other end, Pepe Reina produced a great one-handed save to keep out Fabio Quagliarella’s pinpoint header, but the Spanish ’keeper was finally beaten by the former Juventus striker from the spot just after the half hour.
Torino were given the benefit of the doubt when Bruno Peres fell under a challenge from Faouzi Ghoulam, and Reina was unlucky after making solid contact with Quagliarella’s spot-kick before it hit the back of the net.
Napoli had the momentum in a dominant first half and Slovakian forward Marek Hamsik capped his 300th Serie A appearance with a superb angled strike four minutes from halftime.
Torino came fighting back in a lively second half, when Sarri and Torino counterpart Giampietro Ventura were both sent from the touchline.
Inter weathered an early storm at the Stadio Carlo Castellani, where veteran striker Massimo Maccarone, Riccardo Saponara and Piotr Zielinski were just off target for the hosts in a busy opening period that kept Inter ’keeper Samir Handanovic on his toes.
On the stroke of halftime Empoli were made to pay for those misses, Icardi pouncing at the near post to beat home ’keeper Lukasz Skorupski to Ivan Perisic’s weighted delivery.
Remarkably, the Argentine — who finished tied with veteran Verona striker Luca Toni on top of the league’s scoring charts last season — has only had 12 shots on target all season, with a return of eight goals.
Meanwhile, Juventus consigned their poor start to the campaign to distant memory with a commanding 3-0 win over Hellas Verona in Turin that left them fourth, still three points behind Inter and three ahead of Roma, who dropped points in a 3-3 draw away to AC Chievo Verona.
Massimiliano Allegri’s men have now won eight league games on the trot, and it came with relative ease after Argentina international Dybala put the hosts ahead after eight minutes.
A Leonardo Bonucci header on the stroke of halftime and Simone Zaza’s late goal capped a comprehensive win for the Turin giants.
“We are back among the leading pack: whoever makes the fewest mistakes will triumph,” Allegri told Mediaset.
In Wednesday’s other matches, Udinese defeated Atalanta BC 2-1; AC Milan lost 1-0 at home to Bologna; US Sassuolo drew 2-2 with Frosinone; and SS Lazio were held to a goalless draw by Carpi.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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