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MILAN (AP) — Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to score four goals in 27 minutes against Inter Milan, which beat Salernitana 4-0 in Serie A on Saturday.
Martinez has already scored nine league goals this season and is the best in the scoring chart, just as his team is the best in Serie A.
“He has had a wonderful start to the season, today he had to rest a bit, but he receives goals constantly and wants to continue like this,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “He has become a captain and feels even more like a leader.
“He’s worked well, he’s been given a lot of experience, he’s won a lot of trophies, but he’s a player who has worked well every day in the educational field. “
Inter has problems with AC Milan, which beat Lazio 2-0 after a goal by U. S. star Christian Pulisic. Napoli are third, four points behind, after their 4-0 win in Lecce.
Inter saw their best start to the season and ended midweek with a 2-1 home loss to Sassuolo, but Inzaghi opted not to start Martinez ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Benfica.
As Inter struggled to dominate goals, Martinez came on in the 55th minute and opened the scoring seven minutes later.
Marcus Thuram fell down the left and saw Martinez with a better pass for the Argentine World Cup winner to send the ball over Guillermo Ochoa into the back left corner.
Mateusz Łęgowski thought he had equalised for Salernitana almost immediately, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Inter doubled their lead in the 77th minute. Denzel Dumfries did well to borrow his defender and pass it to Martinez. He passed the ball to Nicolò Barella, who centered for the striker to volley.
Martinez completed his hat-trick five minutes from the end with a penalty after Thuram was brought down by Matteo Lovato.
However, Martinez did not finish and fired a Carlos Augusto home cross 4 minutes later.
ANOTHER STAR SUBSTITUTE
Victor Osimhen also had an impact off the bench, as the defending champions scored four goals so far in the same match.
Napoli had ended a three-game winless streak with a 4-1 win over Udinese in midweek, but coach Rudi Garcia opted to put Osimhen in the starting line-up ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
Napoli went ahead in the 16th minute when Piotr Zieliński fired a free kick from the left into the second post and Leo Østigård headed into the most sensible corner for his first Serie A goal.
Garcia brought in Osimhen at half-time and the striker had an instant effect when he found the back of the net six minutes later. Much of the credit goes to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who stepped in from the left and sent a much better ball over Osimhen’s head at the second post.
It is Osimhen’s fifth goal in seven league games this season. The 24-year-old, who had angered the entire club following a social media post this week, is Serie A’s top scorer last season.
Gabriel Strefezza thought he had brought Lecce back into the game seven minutes later, but his attempt was cancelled out after a hand from Nikola Krstović in preparation.
Gianluca Gaetano entered his season debut with seven minutes to go and shortly after scored with a shot from the front of the box.
He also conceded a penalty after Ylber Ramadani made a stride for him. Matteo Politano, to whom Osimhen had passed the ball, hit it in the back left corner.
It was a direct momentary defeat for Lecce, which was unbeaten before Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Juventus and had won its last four home games.
PULISTIC SCORE
Pulisic scored his third goal for Milan, his first in more than a month.
Milan’s pressure mounted and the hosts finally managed to break through on the hour mark. Tijjani Reijnders passed the ball to Rafael Leão and he centred for Pulisic to shoot a half-volley with the inside of his left boot.
Pulisic earned another ovation from the San Siro crowd when he substituted late.
His compatriot Yunus Musah came close to doubling Milan’s lead in the 73rd minute, but was denied thanks to a very good save from Ivan Provedel.
The Lazio goalkeeper made an equally impressive save late in the first half to prevent Olivier Giroud from celebrating his 37th birthday with a goal. Reijnders heeled the rebound onto the post.
Noah Okafor sealed the match two minutes from the end with an undeniable touch after Leão’s paints.
Lazio thought they had cut the gap in extra time thanks to an effort from Pedro, but were sent off for offside.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews. com/hub/Soccer
Daniella Matar, Associated Press
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