Calhanoglu guides Inter to Serie A top spot with Udinese win

MILAN: Turkey playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu set up a goal and scored another as Inter Milan moved back to the summit of Serie A with Saturday´s comfortable 4-0 home win over Udinese.

Inter had dropped to second in the table on Friday after Juventus´ 1-0 victory over champions Napoli. At the San Siro, attacking midfielder Calhanoglu converted a penalty before setting up Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram scored a third for the 16-time champions before the break.

Argentina´s Lautaro Martinez secured all three points with six minutes remaining to keep his spot as the league´s top scorer. Simone Inzaghi´s Inter are two points above Juve and remain unbeaten in Serie A and the Champions League since September 27.

Calhanoglu opened the scoring from the spot after 38 minutes following a foul on Martinez. Inter led 3-0 at half-time after the 29-year-old delicately fed wing-back Dimarco to score and then Thuram netted his sixth league goal this season a minute before the break. Thuram´s effort came at the end of 21 passes in a move which started in the Inter half.

Udinese were denied a goal with 23 minutes remaining as on-loan Lorenzo Lucca was adjudged to be offside despite beating Yann Sommer. Calhanoglu was replaced in the 71st minute by Albania defensive midfielder Kristjan Asllani before in-form Martinez completed the rout with six minutes to go. Earlier, Experienced Colombia striker Luis Muriel scored a 95th-minute winner with a backheel as Atalanta beat AC Milan.