Inter cement top spot with win over Cagliari, Milan rout Udinese

Inter Milan cruised to a 3-1 win at home to Cagliari thanks to goals from Marko Arnautovic, Lautaro Martinez and Yann Aurel Bisseck to keep their grip on top spot in Serie A on Saturday.

Inter are six points clear of second-placed Napoli, who host lowly Empoli on Monday, with six rounds to go.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi kept the squad rotation at a minimum despite Wednesday’s

Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich match at San Siro, where the Nerazzurri will have a 2-1 lead from the first leg last week.

Arnautovic put the hosts ahead after 13 minutes when he blasted home from close range before Martinez doubled the lead in the 26th by chipping goalkeeper Elia Caprile.

Cagliari pulled one back three minutes into the second half when Roberto Piccoli was left unmarked and sent a header into the ground that bounced into the top left corner.

The visitors’ momentum was punctured in the 55th minute, however, when Inter’s Bisseck rose highest at a corner to head their third and wrap up the points for the home side.

Venezia boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop with a crucial 1-0 win over bottom club Monza, who seems ever more likely to be relegated.

Daniel Fila netted his first goal for Venezia, since joining the Italian club from Slavia Prague in February.

Fila was also sent off in stoppage time following a second yellow card.

Venezia moved level with Empoli, two points from safety.

Monza remained 11 points below 17th-placed Lecce, with just six rounds remaining and could find themselves further adrift if Lecce manage to win at Juventus.

AC Milan kept their hopes of European football alive on Friday by sweeping aside Udinese 4-0, as goalkeeper Mike Maignan was stretchered off the field following a sickening clash of heads with teammate Alex Jimenez.

Rafael Leao, Strahinja Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders were on the mark for Milan who stay ninth but are four points behind Lazio who sit sixth, in the Conference League spot, and face local rivals Roma on Sunday.

Milan were already two ahead through Leao and Pavlovic’s strikes just before half-time when Maignan came charging out of his goal to clear the ball but ended up headbutting Jimenez.

Milan said Maignan was “conscious” and on his way to hospital for tests following the accident six minutes after half-time.

Jimenez was able to carry on playing but Maignan held his head in his hands as he was carried off the pitch to applause from home fans at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine.

Only minutes before a large section of Udinese supporters had booed Maignan as he approached the goal in front of hardcore home fans, who had also chanted foul-mouth insults at the 29-year-old.

Maignan was racially abused by a small number of Udinese supporters during a match in Udine in January last year, and the club subsequently identified and banned for life five people responsible for the offensive remarks.

Meanwhile, Milan coach Sergio Conceicao praised the way Udinese fans applauded Maignan when he had to be carried off on a stretcher following a collision.

“It impressed me. The player on the ground, the chaos around him... I have to compliment the Udinese fans,” Conceicao told Sky Sport.

“The player is one thing, and the man is another. They can boo the player, but not the man. That applause was an incredible gesture, in 40 years of football I have seen few gestures like that. Now Mike is in hospital for tests.”

Maignan spent the night in a hospital after being carried off on a stretcher following a collision.

The club has confirmed Maignan will make his way back to Milan on Saturday after spending time under observation in the hospital.

Jimenez, who also took a heavy knock to the head, initially played on but was forced off about 18 minutes later.

“Fortunately, Mike is fine. We all asked the doctor how he was, and he reassured us by telling us that he’s in the hospital for tests, but he’s doing okay. He’s a great captain,” Milan defender Matteo Gabbia told reporters after the game.

Agencies