Inter Milan moved three points clear at the top of Serie A on Sunday after winning a big title clash at Atalanta 2-0, while Thiago Motta avoided the sack despite Juventus being thumped 3-0 at Fiorentina.
Carlos Augusto and Lautaro Martinez scored the goals which ensured Inter took a big step towards retaining the league title in a tetchy match which ended with both teams down to 10 men and Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini sent to the stands.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have pulled further clear of closest rivals Napoli who could only manage a goalless draw at lowly Venezia in the day’s early kick-off.
And Atalanta’s dream of winning their first ever Scudetto is fading as Gasperini’s side stay third and now trail Inter by six points with nine matches remaining.
Atalanta haven’t won at home in Serie A since before Christmas, failing to score in three league fixtures in Bergamo, and Inter were deserved winners thanks to a performance which highlighted why they are widely considered Italy’s best team.
Inter could have been ahead as early as the seventh minute when Marcus Thuram sprang the offside trap before rolling in a low finish which hit the inside of the post and somehow squirmed away from the Atalanta goal.
Carlos Augusto took advantage of distracted Atalanta defending immediately after a five-minute pause in the match for a fan who needed medical assistance.
The Brazilian headed home Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner eight minutes after half-time to give Inter the lead and the champions never looked back from that point.
Inter’s cause was helped by Ederson being booked twice within a matter of seconds for dissent and leaving Atalanta a man down from the 81st minute.
Martinez rammed home his 18th goal of the season six minutes later and soon after a livid Gasperini, who was still raging at Ederson’s sending-off, was dismissed by referee Davide Massa.
That wasn’t the end of the action however as with 11 minutes of added time due to the fan previously needing help in the stands, Alessandro Bastoni was punished for a series of fouls with the match’s third red card.
Motta’s job at Juventus is safe for now but he remains under immense pressure to turn around results after a second heavy defeat in as many weeks.
The Turin giants barely laid a glove on eighth-placed Fiorentina who ran riot in front of delighted supporters — including iconic former striker Gabriel Batistuta — at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Robin Gosens and Rolando Mandragora put Fiorentina two ahead within 18 minutes, before Albert Gudmundsson made sure of the points seven minutes after the break with a thunderous shot, of which Batistuta himself would have been proud.
The nature of Sunday’s defeat, and the fact it came after last weekend’s four-goal home hammering by Atalanta, has left Motta in a precarious position, even if Juve’s sporting director said they were focussed on a “long-term project”.
“Right now we need to be united because you get out of a crisis by sticking together. We’re obviously disappointed, we put in two bad performances in what has been an up and down season,” said Cristiano Giuntoli to Sky.
“But we’re convinced that we can get out of this all together.”
To make matters worse for Motta, his old team Bologna have moved one point above his current club into fourth place after a thumping 5-0 win over sixth-placed Lazio, who are only a point behind Juve.
Roma are also in the hunt for the Champions League after a 1-0 win over Cagliari, which eased the pain of being dumped out of the Europa League by Athletic Bilbao midweek.
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