ROME: Take note, Manchester City: the bigger the match, the bigger the performance from Lautaro Martinez lately.
After scoring key goals against Benfica and city rival AC Milan to help secure Inter Milan a spot in the Champions League final, Martinez netted twice as the Nerazzurri produced a 2-1 comeback win over Fiorentina to defend the Italian Cup trophy on Wednesday.
It’s the second trophy that Inter has won this season after also beating Milan in the Italian Super Cup in January — when Martinez also scored.
After a couple of matches to finish up Serie A, Martinez and Inter will be aiming for one more trophy when they face City in the Champions League final on June 10 in Istanbul.
“In all honesty, I am moved, because for a couple of years we have been bringing trophies to this great club and we’ve got to continue this way,” said Martinez, who also played a big role when Inter won Serie A in 2021. “I want to keep contributing for Inter, because that’s what matters.”
Martinez now has a career-best 27 goals across all competitions for Inter this season, having also helped Argentina win the World Cup in December. He’s also the only player to have appeared in all 54 of Inter’s matches this season.
The match at the Stadio Olimpico was lively from the start as Nicolas Gonzalez put Fiorentina ahead three minutes in following a lapse by Inter’s defense. A cross from Jonathan Ikone was allowed to float across the area for Gonzalez to knock in at the far post.
Then Martinez took over to put Inter ahead before the break.
First, a perfectly placed through ball from Marcelo Brozovic set up the equalizer as Martinez ran onto the pass and scored with an angled shot into the far corner for his 100th goal with Inter. Then Martinez produced an acrobatic volley to redirect in a pass from Nicolo Barella.
Martinez also nearly produced another goal when he set up Edin Dzeko with only the goalkeeper to beat but Dzeko’s shot sailed high over the bar.
Fiorentina will play West Ham in the Europa Conference League final on June 7.
It’s the ninth Italian Cup title for Inter, while Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi has now won seven of his eight finals as a manager.
“We started poorly and had the wrong approach, which is rare for us, but the guys did well to stay in the game anyhow and then turn it around,” Inzaghi said.
By reaching the final, Inter and Fiorentina had each already qualified for next season’s expanded Italian Super Cup, which will feature four teams that also include Serie A champion Napoli and the league runner-up.
Lautaro Martinez scores 2 as Inter beats Fiorentina 2-1 for Italian Cup title
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Lautaro Martinez scores 2 as Inter beats Fiorentina 2-1 for Italian Cup title
- It’s the second trophy that Inter has won this season after also beating Milan in the Italian Super Cup in January — when Martinez also scored
Olympic favorite Malinin pulls off stunning GP Final win
- Short program winner Yuma Kagiyama finished second overall on 302.41
- Malinin becomes the first skater to land seven quads in competition and will head to the Milan-Cortina Games in February as clear favorite in his Olympic debut
NAGOYA: Ilia Malinin showed why he is red-hot favorite for Olympic gold by winning the Grand Prix Final with a world-record free skate score after landing an incredible seven quads.
The American “Quad God” lived up to his nickname, coming from third place after a disappointing short program to claim the title in Nagoya with an emphatic 332.29 points.
Short program winner Yuma Kagiyama finished second overall on 302.41, followed by Japanese countryman Shun Sato on 292.08.
Malinin becomes the first skater to land seven quads in competition and will head to the Milan-Cortina Games in February as clear favorite in his Olympic debut.
“It gives me a lot of confidence that I’m able to go out there and get this done,” said the 21-year-old.
“I know that right now I wasn’t at 100 percent, so being able to do this at what energy and what percent I am now gives me a lot of confidence for the future.
“I will take the next few months leading up to the Olympics trying to perfect everything,” he added.
Malinin botched his signature quad axel in his short program when he unleashed it for the first time this season on Thursday.
He nailed the ultra-risky move in style in his free skate and kept the fireworks going for the rest of his routine.
His free skate score of 238.24 was almost 10 points more than his old world record, set in his previous competition at Skate Canada last month.
Malinin said he was “thinking of trying to water it down to play it safe but then I remembered why I came to the Grand Prix Final.”
“I decided that I wanted to go full out and give myself a foundation of what it would look like,” he said.
“I’m really satisfied with my performance and I know that I’m able to get these jumps under pressure.”
Kagiyama, the 2022 Beijing Olympics silver medallist, had a job on his hands to beat Malinin even with his short program lead.
He made mistakes toward the end of his routine and placed fourth in the free skate.
- Chock, Bates win ice dance -
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States won the ice dance title.
The husband-and-wife team claimed the Grand Prix Final title for the third straight year, racking up 220.42 points to finish ahead of France’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron on 214.25.
Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson were third on 208.81.
“It feels like a sprint to get to the Grand Prix Final and then all of a sudden you have a month or two before we’ll meet again in Milan,” said Bates.
“It really is the first half of the season and then there’s a lot of progress that can be made in the next few months, which is something that we’re looking forward to.”
