Romelu Lukaku netted in both sides of the half-time break to help Inter Milan beat Genoa 3-0 and keep a faint hope alive of the Serie A title. Alexis Sanchez scored the other goal of the match which helped Antonio Conte’s side go past Atlanta to the second place, within four points of table-toppers and probable champions Juventus.
Juventus will next play Sampdoria in Turin and a win will guarantee their 36th and ninth straight Italian league title. A draw or a defeat will keep second-placed Inter Milan or third-placed Atlanta in the fight. The Old Lady have 80 points from 35 matches, while Inter and Atlanta have 76 and 75 respectively from 36 matches.
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Meanwhile, at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Saturday, Lukaku scored the opening goal in the 34th minute off a cross from Cristiano Biraghi. The 27-year-old former Manchester United netted the other one with a brilliant individual effort in the fourth minute of the injury time to take his tally to 23 goals this season.
Another former Manchester United player, who is on loan from Old Trafford, Sanchez was on target with a volley before receiving a delivery from Victor Moses in the 83rd minute.
Genoa, on the other hand, failed to rise above the 17th place in the points table. However, they are four points ahead of the relegation zone.
In Naples, Napoli beat Sassuolo 2-0 in a match where the visitors saw their four goals being ruled offside – two in both halves – by the VAR.
Albanian defender Elseid Hysaj gave Napoli the breakthrough after eight minutes at the empty San Paolo Stadium.
Then had two goals from Sassuolo’s Filip Djuricic and one each from Francesco Caputo and Domenico Berardi were ruled out following VAR viewings.
Meanwhile, Brazilian Allan sealed the points for the hosts three minutes into injury time.
Seventh-placed Napoli, who have already qualified for the Europa League as a result of their Italian Cup victory, extended their lead with seventh-placed Sassuolo by 11 points. They remain at seventh with 59 points.