MILAN: Inter Milan crushed ten-man Udinese 4-0 on Sunday to assure their fifth place in Serie A and seal at least Europa League action next season while keeping their Champions League challenge alive.
Inter have 69 points with two games left and cannot be caught by AC Milan who are nine points behind or Atalanta, who have 58 points before playing fourth-place Lazio on Sunday. AS Roma and Lazio are third and four respectively one point ahead of Inter before both play later Sunday.
Inter put last week’s last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Juventus behind them, sealing victory with first half goals from Andrea Ranocchia, Rafinha and captain Mauro Icardi.Udinese battled for top-flight survival took a knock as they played the final 40 minutes a man down after Seko Fofana was shown red. Ranocchia headed in off a corner after 12 minutes for Luciano Spalletti’s side with Rafinha getting his first Serie A goal just before the break.
Argentine Icardi added a third minutes later to move just one goal short of Lazio’s injured top Serie A scorer Ciro Immobile. But Udinese’s game was effectively dealt a killer blow five minutes after the break when Fofana was sent off after stamping on Ivan Perisic’s ankle with the foul confirmed by video assistant referee. Udinese remain three points above the relegation zone. Second-placed Napoli, meanwhile, travel to Torino later Sunday in a game which could decide the championship.
Juventus closed in on a seventh successive title on Saturday by recovering from a goal down to beat Bologna 3-1. If Napoli lose in Torino, Juventus will claim the title as they have a seven-point lead with two games left. A Napoli draw would delay Juventus being crowned champions but with a six-point lead and a superior goal difference the Turin side would be champions in all but name.