Inter beats Milan to regain third place in Italy’s Serie A – European football roundup
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Inter beat AC Milan 3 – 2 in an action packed derby on Sunday night to regain the third spot in the Serie A.
The game started off with a bang as Vecino gave Inter an early lead after tapping home Lautaro Martinez’s assist. The nerazzurri had the better chances as they went into half-time with a 0-1 lead.
Inter came out strong in the second half as De Vrij gave his side a 0-2 lead. The game really took off as Bakayoko put Milan on the board a few moments later. The rossoneri started pushing strong but Inter were awarded a controversial penalty-kick for a Castillejo foul on Politano. Lautaro Martinez stepped up and made it 1-3 Inter late on in the game. Argentine defender Musacchio got Milan back into the game but it was too little too late for the rossoneri as Inter have the bragging rights for the night. reports Calcio Mercato.
Speaking to Sky Sport, Luciano Spalletti said ‘Well we had to work on our approach after a few bad performances and I saw a lot of improvement tonight. Icardi? I have to say well done to Lautaro and Perisic as well as all of the other players as well, we played great. Thank you to the fans as well as this was a special night. Milan? I think that Milan put in a great performance and Gattuso should be proud of his players. The city of Milano deserved a game like this and both teams performed”.
AC Milan coach Rino Gattuso said: ‘We weren’t able to play like we wanted in the first half, credit has to go to Inter. After going down 0-2 I really liked our response. Inter are a very good and physical side, I was happy with our game especially the second half. We created some good chances and we almost equalized the game late on. Kessie-Biglia? This hurts more so than the defeat. I can’t accept this since I am the one who has to take care of the discipline in the locker-room. I will have my say on the matter soon.
In other matches Juventus fell to their first Serie A defeat of the season on Sunday as Genoa ran out 2-0 winners days after the Turin club’s Champions League heroics against Atlético Madrid.
Lionel Messi netted yet another brilliant hat-trick as Barcelona continued their seemingly unstoppable march towards the La Liga title with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Real Betis.
All three goals in Messi’s 51st career treble were memorable, with a superb free-kick to open being followed by a clinical link-up with Luis Suárez before the Argentinian finished things off with a pinpoint late chip.
Suárez also got in on the act with a fine solo goal while Betis’ reply, from Loren, was also one for the highlights reel from a hugely entertaining encounter at the Benito Villamarin Stadium. The result sees Barcelona extend their advantage over second-placed Atlético Madrid, who lost on Saturday, to 10 points, and keeps them firmly on course for a possible LaLiga, Champions League and Copa del Rey treble this season.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich responded to Borussia Dortmund’s late win at Hertha Berlin on Saturday by thrashing Mainz 6-0 to climb back to the top of the table. James Rodríguez scored a hat-trick, as Robert Lewandowski, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies also got on the scoresheet. Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt beat Nürnberg via Martin Hinteregger’s goal 1-0 to keep their hopes of reaching next season’s Champions League alive.
