Inter Milan Maintain Serie A Lead with Narrow Win Over Atalanta, Lautaro Martínez Continues Scoring Form
Inter Milan secured a 1-0 victory against Atalanta at the end of 2025, maintaining their position at the top of Serie A with a game in hand. The lone goal was scored by Lautaro Martínez, assisted by 20-year-old Inter academy product Pio Esposito, who provided the decisive pass following a turnover by Atalanta's Berat Djimsiti. Martínez has now scored 15 goals in 2025, tying with Riccardo Orsolini as the top scorer for the calendar year, with the distinction that Martínez's tally includes no penalties while Orsolini has scored four from the spot.
Under manager Cristian Chivu, Inter Milan's season has been marked by inconsistency, suffering four league defeats to Juventus, Milan, and Napoli, alongside an exit from the SuperCoppa at the hands of Bologna. Despite these setbacks, Inter lead the league table with 36 points from 16 games.
Atalanta have undergone significant changes this season, having lost their coach Gasperini to Roma, with Juric lasting only 11 Serie A games before Palladino took charge. The team also faced challenges including the departure of Retegui to Al Qadsiah, the return from injury of Scamacca, and the preseason absence of Lookman. Additionally, Lukaku has been sidelined with injury since August. Atalanta have suffered nine consecutive defeats to Inter across competitions.
This Serie A season has been unusually low-scoring, averaging just 2.327 goals per game, a decline from previous years where averages were 2.561 and 2.611, and even below the 1991-92 season's rate of 2.271 goals per game.
