Lautaro Martínez scored a hat trick for Inter Milan to beat relegation-threatened Crotone 6-2 and take the lead in Serie A for at least a few hours on Sunday.
Martinez could have had 4 if his attempt at the moment had not been a purpose of his own through Crotone defender Luca Marrone.
Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi also scored in a functional part for the Nerazzurri.
Inter are two issues away from local rivals AC Milan, who will later come to Benevento, where they will face former star player and coach Filippo Inzaghi. Crotone slipped to last place.
Juventus played later, against Udinese.
All 20 of Serie A are in action on Sunday when the Italian league resumes after the winter break.
Inter had ended last year with a seven-game winning streak in the league, but it was when Niccolò Zanellato led Crotone to the lead in the 12th minute.
Martínez tied at 20 and the idea that he had 11 minutes later, but Marrone controlled to touch the ball from Nicolò Barella from the other side of the area.
Vladimir Golemić leveled at one time after Arturo Vidal fouled Arkadiusz Reca.
Vidal also guilty for Crotone’s first game and threw at half-time.
Inter were better at the moment and showed that Martinez regained his team’s lead in the 57th with a hard shot in the upper left corner.
Lukaku had played a decisive role in him and the former Manchester United striker marked his 50th Serie A appearance with a purpose of his own seven minutes later, deflecting and preventing Sebastiano Luperto from firing on the long ball. Alessandro Bastoni.
Martinez finished his hat trick in the 78th, the rebound in close diversity after Crotone goalkeeper Alex Cordaz stopped Ivan Perišić’s shot. Hakimi capped off a wonderful day for Inter with 3 minutes to go.
ATTACK ATTACK
Duván Zapata scored twice and Atalanta beat Sassuolo 5-1 to get close to his opponent in the war for the most sensitive four.
Sassuolo slipped to fifth position, two issues fourth Napoli after Gennaro Gattuso won 4-1 in Cagliari despite an 18-minute match with 10 men after Piotr Zieliński was sent off after two yellow cards.
Atalanta ranked sixth, a Sassuolo point.
Atalanta missed several, but led 2-0 at halftime after goals from Zapata and Matteo Pessina and was unleashed in the middle of the moment.
Zapata doubled his overall 4 minutes after the break and Robin Gosens and Luis Muriel extended the home lead before Vlad Chiricheș scored a consolation for Sassuolo.
OTHER PARTIES
Edin Džeko scored the only goal as Roma beat Sampdoria 1-0 to remain third, six questions behind Inter.
At the finish of the board, Torino broke away from last position and the relegation zone with a 3-0 victory in Parma.
Spezia slipped into the last 3 after losing 1-0 at home to Hellas Verona. Genoa, the other in the relegation zone, controlled to draw 1-1 with Lazio.
Fiorentina drew 0-0 Bologna.
___
More AP football: https://apnews. com/Soccer and https://twitter. com/AP_Sports