MILAN: Inter Milan bounced back from last week’s surprise loss to Bologna by beating Lecce 2-0 in Serie A on Sunday.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lautaro Martínez scored in each half for Inter, which returned to second spot.
The Nerazzurri are two points above Lazio — and three points ahead of AC Milan — in a tight fight for the Champions League spots. Fifth-place Roma, which is six points behind Inter, played Juventus later Sunday.
Inter took a while to get into the match at San Siro but broke the deadlock in the 29th minute as Robin Gosens raced down the left and crossed for Nicolò Barella, who feinted to shoot before rolling across to Mkhitaryan to sweep the ball into the top right corner.
Barella also had a hand in Inter’s second, eight minutes after the break, as he sent Denzel Dumfries down the right. He crossed for Martínez to fire in at the near post.
Lecce is nine points above the relegation zone.
Relegation fight
Hellas Verona drew 0-0 at fellow struggler Spezia and had goalkeeper Simone Perilli to thank on his Serie A debut.
Perilli was standing in for Lorenzo Montipò, who was out with illness, and he made a sensational save with two minutes remaining to push Kelvin Amian’s effort over the bar.
M’Bala Nzola had also hit the post for Spezia, which remained three points above Verona and the bottom three.
Sampdoria stayed at the bottom of the table after drawing 0-0 at home to Salernitana.