Inter, the new leader of Serie A after the victory against Lazio

Inter beat Lazio 3-1 to take the Serie A title from rival and current leader Milan a week before the Milan derby which is expected to be decisive in the title race.

Romelu Lukaku shone with two goals and an assist for Lautaro Martinez to secure a big win for Inter, while Gonzalo Escalante was insufficient for Lazio on Sunday at the San Siro.

Antonio Conte’s team entered the meeting knowing that its main title rivals Milan and Juventus were defeated on Saturday by Spezia and Napoli, respectively.

Nerazzurri took care to make the most of Milan’s release of points and took the lead after only 22 minutes of play, when Lukaku scored from the penalty spot.

The Belgian striker doubled the lead of the Blues in the last minute of the first half.

Escalante put Lazio back in the game by deflecting Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s shot into Samir Handanovic’s net.

But the hopes of Simone Inzaghi’s team were dashed by Martinez just three minutes later, when he scored in the empty net after being served by Lukaku.

Kosovo National Team striker Vedat Muriqi played 20 minutes, but failed to leave a mark in the game of the capital.

Inter are now leaders in Serie A with 50 points after 22 games, one more than Milan, seven more than Roma and eight more than Juventus. The latter has a match available to play.

Lazio, which had won the last seven games before this meeting, remains in seventh position with 40 points.