MILAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Inter Milan claimed a commanding 3–1 home win over Bologna on Sunday to return to the top of Serie A in what is shaping up to be an increasingly intense title race.
With the victory, Inter took the lead in the table on 39 points, one clear of city rivals AC Milan and two ahead of Napoli, with the campaign now two matches from the halfway mark.
Inter laid siege to the Bologna goal for most of the first half, pouring forward in wave after wave, only to be denied by an outstanding goalkeeper, Federico Ravaglia, whose string of fine saves kept the scoreline intact.
However, six minutes before the break, Inter finally took a deserved lead when Lautaro Martinez, falling under a challenge, managed to slide the ball across to Piotr Zielinski, who struck confidently from just outside the box to find the net.
Three minutes after the restart, Inter doubled their advantage from a corner, as Martinez timed his run perfectly and powered a header into the net.
The onslaught continued minutes later when Martinez met a cross point-blank with the goal gaping, only to crash his effort against the crossbar, drawing a collective gasp from the stadium.
Ravaglia produced a string of saves to keep the deficit from growingbut the resistance finally broke in the 74th minute when Marcus Thuram made it three for Inter, his shoulder glancing a corner over the line and the Frenchman looking almost surprised by his own goal.
Santiago Castro pulled one back for Bologna seven minutes before stoppage time, sliding in to score, but Inter remained firmly in control, while Bologna were indebted toRavaglia for keeping the scoreline respectable.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon)
