Martinez stunner helps Inter keep pace with Napoli
Inter Milan ensured it kept pace with Serie A leader Napoli after surviving a late surge to beat Empoli 3-1 at San Siro.
The result sees Simone Inzaghi's side move to within three points of Napoli, but it does have the luxury of a game in hand over its fellow Scudetto hopeful.
In a half that saw clear-cut chances hard to come by, Martinez went closest to opening the scoring when he crashed a half-volley off the post in the 23rd minute.
Inter did make the breakthrough 10 minutes after the restart when Martinez curled a stunning effort that nestled into the top corner with the aid of a hand from Devis Vasquez.
Denzel Dumfries then doubled the hosts' advantage from a corner, rising highest to meet Kristjan Asllani's outswinging delivery to put the Nerazzurri on the cusp of victory.
But Empoli threatened a nervy ending at the San Siro after Sebastiano Esposito gathered Liam Henderson's cross into the box and finished into the bottom left-hand corner.
Marcus Thuram, however, made sure of the result a minute from time, coming off the bench to power the ball home after combining with fellow substitute Marko Arnautovic.
In its past eight league games, Inzaghi's side has collected 22 points out of 24, scoring 25 goals and conceding four, further proving its credentials for the title this year.
Inter's assistant coach Massimiliano Farris applauded his team's maturity after it closed the gap to Napoli.
With manager Inzaghi serving a ban for accumulated yellow cards, Farris manned the touchline for the defending champion.
"The team had a very mature approach; it doesn’t always mean coming out aggressively," Farris said.
"We immediately found an Empoli side that focused on closing spaces at the back.
"Often, games are unlocked in the second half because of the work done in the first, and when Lautaro [Martinez] does what Lautaro does, there are no issues."
Farris added that Inter is not focusing on the table.
"We focus on the games to be played: before the match, we were six points behind, now it's three," he said.
"Right now, we don’t have time to look at the calendar, we only think about what needs to be done."
It was also a special night for goalscorer Martinez, who notched his 111th Serie A goal for Inter since his move from Racing Club back in 2018.
The Agrentine's curled effort saw him equal the second-highest scoring foreign player for Inter in the Italian top-flight (111 for Mauro Icardi). Only Stefano Nyers (133) has scored more.
But speaking after the game, Martinez conceded that trying to challenge Napoli for the remainder of the season would be tough.
"It’s going to be fascinating. We are three behind, we have a game in hand, but as always we need to focus on our own path, because Inter have to do better every single year," he said.
