Lautaro Martínez scored to give Inter 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 Milan and two ahead of Napoli.
Marcus Thuram appeared to have put Inter into the lead just before the interval, but the goal was ruled out after an offside by Martínez 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 Martínez 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.
Milan beat Verona 3-0 having struggled to break down a disciplined Verona side in the first half but made the breakthrough from a corner in added time when Christian Pulisic volleyed home at the far post.
Christopher Nkunku then scored twice in five minutes in the second half, first from the penalty spot after he was fouled and then again when he pounced on a rebound from a Luka Modric shot that came off the post.
“For us today it was important to win against a tricky, fast team,” the Milan manager, Massimiliano Allegri, said to Dazn. “At the moment the Scudetto target will be between 82 and 84 points. It could rise to 86 if a team goes on a strong run.”
Rasmus Højlund struck twice as Napoli claimed an authoritative 2-0 victory away to Cremonese on Sunday to stay firmly in the hunt at the top.
Højlund reacted quickest to a deflected effort that ricocheted into his path and calmly scored from close range to put Napoli ahead in the 13th minute. Another loose ball dropped invitingly near the back post during first-half stoppage time, allowing the Dane to strike again with little fuss.
“He’s a very young player, first and foremost, and he has a lot of room for improvement,” said the Napoli manager, Antonio Conte of Højlund. “He’s becoming a dominant player in his position. He is really well connected with the team. In my style of football, the strikers have a very important and special role in the overall approach, and he has a huge margin for further improvement.”
On Saturday, Juventus earned a hard-fought victory at struggling Pisa, making the breakthrough in the 73rd minute as an attempted clearance ricocheted in off Pierre Kalulu. Kenan Yildiz added a second in stoppage time as Juve moved closer to the top three, albeit having played at least a game more than their rivals.
Elsewhere, Keinan Davis grabbed a dramatic late equaliser for Udinese at home to Lazio, while Nico Paz scored one and set up another as Como eased to a 3-0 victory at Lecce. Cagliari moved clear of danger with a comeback win at Torino, and Fiorentina remain bottom of the pile after a 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Parma.