Inter wins and opens 10-point gap at top of Serie A, Lyon wins 3 in a row

ROME: Serie A leader Inter Milan scored three times in the first half on its way to a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of bottom club Salernitana on Friday.

The win moved Inter 10 points clear of second-placed Juventus, which plays at Verona on Saturday.

Marcos Thuram opened the scoring with a fine side-foot finish after 16 minutes and Lautaro Martinez doubled the lead three minutes later with a shot from outside the box.

Denzel Dumfries made it 3-0 five minutes before halftime when he tapped in from close range after the goalkeeper spilled a shot from Nicolo Barella. Austrian center forward Marko Arnautovic rounded off the rout in the final minute.

It was a sobering start for Fabio Liverani, who was appointed Salernitana coach last Monday with the task of keeping the club up.

His new side remained rooted to the bottom of the table, five points adrift of Cagliari and with just two wins all season. Earlier, Duvan Zapata scored his third goal in four games as Torino’s super start to 2024 continued after beating Lecce 2-0.

The result extended Torino’s unbeaten run to six games. It lifted the Turin club one place into ninth.

Raoul Bellanova got the opener five minutes into the second half and Zapata added a second with a textbook header from a corner kick 10 minutes from time. Lecce center half Marin Pongracic was sent off in the second half.

The team remained 13th after only one win in its last nine league games.

Lyon’s renaissance continues

Lyon’s resurgence under coach Pierre Sage continued by beating second-placed Nice 1-0 in the French league on Friday.

Sage took over at the end of November when the seven-time champion was bottom of the league, with just one win from 12 matches. This sixth win Lyon’s last eight league games lifted it six points clear of the relegation zone and into 11th place.

Belgian midfielder Orel Mangala swept home a low cross from the right. It was his first goal for the club since joining on loan from Nottingham Forest in the January transfer window.

Nice started the night in second place, 11 points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain, but it has taken just one point from its last nine available, and was only a point ahead of Monaco and two clear of Brest.