Lautaro's goal gives Inter the provisional lead in Serie A; AC Milan drops further into crisis

Lautaro’s goal gives Inter the provisional lead in Serie A; AC Milan drops further into crisis

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Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Genoa, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, second right, scores his side’s opening goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Genoa, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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Torino’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and Torino’s Samuele Ricci celebrates after saving a penality during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and AC Milan the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin, north west Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Alberto Gandolfo/LaPresse via AP)

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Torino’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic saves a penalty during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and AC Milan the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin, north west Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

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Torino’s Gvidas Gineitis celebrates after scoring during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and AC Milan the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin, north west Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

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Torino’s Nikola Vlasic, second left, has a shot on goal towards AC Milan’s goalkeeper Mike Maignan during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and AC Milan the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin, north west Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

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Torino’s Nikola Vlasic during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino and AC Milan the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino in Turin, north west Italy, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

ROME (AP) — Lautaro Martinez scored late and Inter Milan beat Genoa 1-0 to take the provisional lead in Serie A on Saturday.

Lautaro met a corner with a header that deflected off a defender’s chest before going in to break a deadlock at the San Siro.

The Argentina striker then climbed up on a security fence to celebrate with Inter’s fans on the other side.

Inter moved one point ahead of Antonio Conte’s Napoli, which can reclaim the lead with a win at Como on Sunday.

Next weekend, Inter visits Napoli.

AC Milan falls further into crisis after Champions League exit

Four days after getting eliminated from the Champions League, AC Milan dropped further into crisis with an error-strewn 2-1 loss at Torino.

The mistakes started with an own goal from Malick Thiaw five minutes in when a clearance from Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan ricocheted off his own defender into the net.

United States international Christian Pulisic then failed to convert a penalty for the first time in his career when Torino goalkeeper Sergej Milinkovic-Savic lunged to his right to push away the American’s low spot kick.

Milinkovic-Savic has saved four of the five penalties he’s faced this season.

Not PARSE.LY: Lautaro Martinez

Inter Milan's Marko Arnautovic celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Fiorentina at the San Siro stadium, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Inter beat Fiorentina to move into second place in Serie A

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez flashes up his three fingers as he's celebrates his third goal against Monaco during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Inter Milan and Monaco, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lautaro becomes Inter’s top goalscorer in Champions League with hat trick against Monaco

AC Milan's head coach Sergio Conceicao celebrates at the end of a Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Parma, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

AC Milan provides drama at the San Siro with 2 late goals in 3-2 comeback win over Parma

After a shot from Milan’s Joao Felix hit the post, the Rossoneri equalized with a shot from Tijjani Reijnders in the 74th. But Torino reclaimed the lead two minutes later with a quick shot from Gvidas Gineitis following a free kick that seemed to surprise Milan.

Milan remained seventh while Torino moved up to 11th.

On Tuesday, Milan was eliminated from the Champions League by Feyenoord on 2-1 aggregate.

Earlier, Parma coach Cristian Chivu had a successful debut with a 2-0 win over regional rival Bologna; and fourth-place Lazio was held to a 0-0 draw at relegation-threatened Venezia.

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