World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez continued his roaring start to the year as he set Inter Milan on the way to a 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina
Martinez has been in fantastic form since helping Argentina win the World Cup in December and he netted his seventh goal in his last eight matches as Inter consolidated second spot in Serie A with a second win over its fierce rival in less than three weeks.
It was Martinez’s 12th league goal of the season, putting him four behind leading Serie A goalscorer Victor Osimhen, who scored another two on Sunday to help runaway leader Napoli win 3-0 at lowly Spezia.
Inter are 13 points behind Napoli and three points above third-placed Roma. Inter are five points above Lazio, Atalanta and Milan, who have slipped to sixth after a woeful start to the year. Milan’s winless run extended to seven matches.
Inter almost took the lead in the 10th minute but Martnez headed just wide of the right upright. Martinez did better in the 34th minute as he got away from Simon Kjaer at the near post to get his head to a corner and it took a deflection off the Milan defender on the way in.
Romelu Lukaku thought he had scored his first league goal since August, late on, but the whistle had already gone for a foul by him on Malick Thiaw. Martinez later had a goal ruled out for offside.
Barca thrash Sevilla to extend LaLiga lead
Barcelona extended their LaLiga lead to eight points thanks to second-half goals by Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinha that gave them a 3-0 home win against Sevilla.
The locals were in control from the beginning but managed to score only after the break when substitute Franck Kessie set up Alba inside the box to slot in a first-touch strike to the goalkeeper’s left.
Raphinha got down the right and delivered a perfect low cross to Gavi who tapped in to make it 2-0 a little over 10 minutes later.
Raphinha got the third goal in the 79th minute with a point-blank strike from an Alba cross.
Barca top the table on 53 points, eight ahead of second-placed Real and 14 above third-placed Real Sociedad. Sevilla, who have won only five of their 20 LaLiga games this season, are 16th on 21 points, two above the relegation zone.
Champions Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Mallorca earlier on Sunday after a bizarre own goal by defender Nacho early in the first half.
Nacho left his team-mates stunned as he tried to clear a cross in the 13th minute and headed the ball high over his own goalkeeper and into the net.
Real dominated the match but missed several chances and wasted a golden opportunity to equalise in the 59th minute when Mallorca goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic saved a poor penalty from Marco Asensio.
Bayern hold on despite Kimmich red card
Bayern Munich held on despite Joshua Kimmich’s sending off to beat Wolfsburg 4-2 and return to the top of the Bundesliga.
Kimmich was sent off with his second yellow card in the 54th minute but Wolfsburg were unable to make their dominance count as the visitors delivered a lesson in efficiency.
Kingsley Coman scored twice and Thomas Muller and Jamal Musiala added two more while Bayern also needed goalkeeper Yann Sommer at his best to secure the teams first Bundesliga win of the year.
“The result was important, the victory matters above all else,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said.
“We were too careless after the third goal, not concentrated enough and we allowed a bit too much. But we can be positive looking ahead with these three points.”
Earlier on Sunday, second-half goals from Jens Stage and Marvin Ducksch earned Werder Bremen a 2-0 win at Stuttgart for the visitors’ second consecutive victory.
It lifted promoted Bremen to eighth while Stuttgart dropped back into the relegation zone. Stuttgart have not won a game since mid-November.
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