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MILAN: Inter Milan beat Empoli 3-1 at home on Sunday to keep pace with Napoli at the top of the Serie A table.
Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring with a curling shot after 55 minutes, Denzel Dumfries added a second with a powerful header from a corner in the 79th, and Marcus Thuram sealed the win 10 minutes later after Empoli had reduced the deficit.
Inter are second in the table with 47 points, three behind leaders Napoli but with a game in hand. Empoli are 14th with 20 points.
The hosts controlled the first half, carving out several opportunities to break the deadlock, but their lack of precision in their finishing kept the game goalless at the break.
Martinez sparked early excitement for Inter with a bicycle kick from a free kick, but Empoli keeper Devis Vasquez reacted brilliantly to save his effort.
Martinez went close to putting Inter ahead five minutes before halftime, when a bouncing ball slipped past the Empoli defence, but his half-volley from close range clipped the post.
Inter's Argentine captain got his goal after 55 minutes, receiving a pass outside the box before unleashing a precise curling shot that grazed the fingertips of Vasquez, at full stretch, as it went into the net.
Dumfries doubled the lead with a powerful header from a corner that bounced into the ground and up into the top corner.
Inter, who had assistant Massimiliano Farris in the dugout with coach Simone Inzaghi banned from the touchline after accumulating yellow cards, took their foot off the pedal after Dumfries' goal.
Empoli briefly threatened a comeback when Sebastiano Esposito, on loan from Inter, pulled one back in the 84th minute, controlling a cross and finishing from close range.
The visitors, however, couldn’t capitalise on that momentum, and Thuram scored Inter's third from a counter-attack to seal the points.
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