Inter Milan reclaims top spot in Italian Serie A

Inter take revenge and return to the summit

Inter Milan regained the league lead from city rivals AC Milan with a revenge win over Bologna, defeating them 3–1 in the 18th round of Serie A.

Match context and standings battle

Cristian Chivu’s side entered the clash in third place after AC Milan defeated hosts Cagliari 1–0 on Saturday, and defending champions Napoli beat Lazio 2–0 on Sunday.

Fifth straight win for Inter

By avenging their Italian Super Cup semi-final exit against Bologna—who had eliminated them on penalties on December 19 in Riyadh—and by claiming their fifth consecutive victory and eighth win in the last nine matches, Inter returned to the top of the table. They now lead AC Milan by one point and Napoli by two.

Dominant performance rewarded

Inter fully deserved the three points after controlling the match and creating numerous chances they initially failed to convert. The breakthrough came in the 39th minute when Polish midfielder Piotr Zieliński fired a powerful shot into the net from the edge of the area following a pass from Argentine striker Lautaro Martínez.

Lautaro extends his scoring run

Inter effectively sealed the win early in the second half when Lautaro scored his 10th league goal of the season and his 14th in all competitions, heading home from a corner delivered by Turkish midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu (48).

Late goals complete the score line

Despite their dominance, Inter waited until the 74th minute to add a third goal from another corner, which surprised French forward Marcus Thuram, who deflected the ball into the net with his shoulder. Bologna pulled one back through Argentine Santiago Castro, who finished from a free-kick delivery by Greek defender Charalampos Lykogiannis (83).