Inter Milan see off Lecce to remain clear of Juventus at Serie A summit

The hosts had plenty of chances to go in front in the first half and Yann Aurel Bisseck finally made the breakthrough just before half-time.

Hamza Rafia had a header saved as Lecce searched for an equaliser, but Nicolo Barella doubled Inter’s lead and the visitors were reduced to 10 in the final stages when Lameck Banda was sent off.

Juventus kept pace thanks to substitute Dusan Vlahovic’s towering header in the 81st minute to hand the visitors a 2-1 victory over Frosinone.

Juve teenager Kenan Yildiz had opened the scoring 12 minutes into his full Serie A debut, but saw it cancelled out by Jaime Baez six minutes into the second half.

Roma moved up to sixth with a 2-0 victory over nine-man Napoli, who dropped to seventh after a nightmare second half saw them concede goals to Lorenzo Pellegrini and Romelu Lukaku as well as having Matteo Politano and Victor Osimhen – on the day it was announced he had signed a new deal tying him to the reigning Serie A champions until 2026 – sent off.

Bologna returned to the top four with a 1-0 victory over Atalanta, Lewis Ferguson becoming Scotland’s all time top-scorer in Serie A with his 11th goal in the competition.

Cagliari remain in the relegation zone after Antoine Makoumbou saw red in the 51st minute at Verona, where the hosts took advantage of his dismissal to secure a 2-0 victory with goals from Cyril Ngonge and Milan Duric.

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ILIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC! SIAMO PARI! #TorinoUdinese [1-1]#SFT pic.twitter.com/ieuyhqGAsa

— Torino Football Club (@TorinoFC_1906) December 23, 2023

Udinese’s trip to Torino looked to be headed toward a goalless draw until Oier Zarraga scored in the 81st minute only to see his late opener cancelled out by home midfielder Ivan Ilic seven minutes later.

In LaLiga, half-time substitute Marcos Llorente made an instant impact and restored Atletico Madrid to third spot with a 1-0 win over Sevilla in Saturday’s only fixture.

The contest, initially set to be played in September but postponed due to weather, remained goalless until after the break when Diego Simeone – celebrating his 12th anniversary as Atletico boss – swapped Nahuel Molina for Llorente.

His side were ahead barely a minute into the second half after Llorente, who initially saw a cross blocked by Sergio Ramos, benefitted when the interception’s rebound favourably landed at his feet at the edge of the six-yard box and he fired into the far corner.

Fellow replacement Caglar Soyuncu was sent off following a VAR check just four minutes after his 66th-minute introduction for a tackle on Lucas Ocampos, but Atletico nevertheless managed to nullify the visitors’ threat and cling onto victory, leaving them level on 38 points with fourth-placed Barcelona but with the advantage on goal difference.