MILAN, Italy (Reuters) – Inter Milan beat Empoli 3-1 at home on Sunday to keep pace with Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.
Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring with a curling shot after 55 minutes, Denzel Dumfries added a second with a powerful header from a corner in the 79th, and Marcus Thuram sealed the win 10 minutes later after Empoli had reduced the deficit.
Inter are second in the table with 47 points, three behind leaders Napoli but with a game in hand. Empoli are 14th with 20 points.
The hosts controlled the first half, with Martinez carving out several opportunities to break the deadlock as Empoli struggled for space, but their lack of precision in their finishing kept the game goalless at the break.
Empoli briefly threatened a comeback when Sebastiano Esposito, on loan from Inter, pulled one back in the 84th minute, controlling a cross and finishing from close range.
The visitors, however, couldn’t capitalise on that momentum, and Thuram scored Inter’s third from a counter-attack to seal the points.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
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