Inter back at Serie A summit after easily undoing Udinese
A first-half demolition job saw Inter Milan return to the top of the Serie A standings with a 4-0 victory over struggling Udinese at San Siro.
Hakan Calhanoglou broke the deadlock in the 37th minute with his sixth penalty from six this season before Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram added a second a third for the hosts prior to half-time.
Inter captain Lautaro Martinez, who won the penalty Calhanoglou converted after having also hit the post with a first-half header of his own, added more gloss to the scoreline in the 84th minute, battling to win possession just inside the Udeinese half before charging ahead and unleashing an unstoppable shot past Marco Silvestri in the Udinese goal.
The victory sees Inter climb back over the top of Juventus after the Bianconeri spent 24 hours in top spot after its victory over Napoli to open this round of fixtures.
The lead is just two points, but both sides now have some distance space from third-placed AC Milan after it succumbed to a stoppage-time defeat in Bergamo in a heart-stopping contest at Atalanta.