Pio Esposito and Marcus Thuram scored inside 20 minutes as Inter beat Como 2-0 at San Siro to move within a point of Serie A leaders Lazio. AC Milan climbed to fourth with a 2-1 win at Genoa, built on goals from Cissè and Pulisic.
Milan, Italy: Both Milan clubs won in Serie A’s eleventh round on Sunday. Inter beat Como at San Siro and AC Milan won at Genoa, while leaders Lazio could only draw 1-1 with Napoli. The table now has Lazio on 29 points and Inter on 28, with Roma third on 27 and Milan fourth on 24.
Inter strike early against Como
Inter led in the 12th minute. Djed Spence crossed, and Francesco Pio Esposito tapped the ball in from close range. Marcus Thuram added the second around the 19th minute, punishing a poor clearance by shooting past Robert Sanchez. Como fell out of the top four. Inter reached 28 points from 11 games. Coach Cristian Chivu said afterwards that his team had come through nine matches in 27 days with energy, and credited his forwards for leading the press and disrupting Como’s build-up. Chivu also acknowledged the derby defeat the squad had to shake off, and Inter had already begun to answer it with a 3-0 win at Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Milan bounce back at Marassi
Milan scored twice in the first 19 minutes in Genoa. Alphadjo Cissè finished first time after Adrien Rabiot rolled the ball across in the 13th minute. Six minutes later Christian Pulisic scored after Gonçalo Ramos laid the ball off to him following a high turnover. Genoa pulled one back in the 88th minute when Mikael Egill Ellertsson struck from distance, with a deflection off Ardon Jashari beating Mike Maignan, but Milan held on. The win lifted them into fourth place on 24 points from 11 matches, and it followed their 2-0 defeat to Ferencváros in the Europa League.
Lazio slip, the chase tightens
Lazio went ahead through Davide Frattesi’s 28th-minute finish on a counter-attack, then conceded three minutes after the break when substitute Alfonso Pedraza deflected a cross into his own net. The 1-1 draw with Napoli left them just one point clear of Inter.
Serie A, matchday 11: Inter 2 (Esposito 12’, Thuram 19’), Como 0, San Siro. Genoa 1 (Ellertsson 88’), AC Milan 2 (Cissè 13’, Pulisic 19’), Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Lazio 1 (Frattesi 28’), Napoli 1 (Pedraza own goal, second half).
