MILAN (AP) — Inter Milan halted its poor run of form in the best possible way, beating fierce rival Juventus 1-0 to boost its Serie A title chances and hinder its opponent’s own hopes on Sunday.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu converted a penalty at the second time of asking in first-half stoppage time. Defending champion Inter moved to within three points of leaders AC Milan and Napoli, which won at Atalanta 3-1 earlier.
Inter, which has played a match fewer than its title rivals, had won just one of its previous seven league matches.
Juventus remained fourth and was four points below Inter.
AC Milan hosts Bologna on Monday.
The Derby d’Italia is always hotly contested but this time Juventus knew it could move above Inter in what has become a thrilling title race.
Juventus was unbeaten in 16 consecutive league matches and started brightly in Turin, with three early opportunities to take the lead including Giorgio Chiellini hitting the underside of the crossbar.
However, it was Inter which broke the deadlock on the stroke of halftime after Juventus forward Álvaro Morata fouled Denzel Dumfries just inside the area. Referee Massimiliano Irrati awarded the penalty after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Çalhanoğlu's first attempt was saved by Wojciech Szczęsny but – after another VAR check – it was ordered to be retaken because of encroachment and the Inter forward buried his second chance into the bottom left corner.
Juventus again had the better of the chances in the second half but it was denied by wayward finishing and good saves by Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanović, who also tipped an effort from Denis Zakaria onto the post.
SUPER INSIGNE
Lorenzo Insigne scored one and set up another to help Napoli move level with Milan at the top of the table.
Insigne, who
Marten de Roon got Atalanta back into the match in the 58th minute but Eljif Elmas sealed the result nine minutes from time following a swift counterattack as the hosts laid siege to the Napoli goal.
Napoli is below Milan on head-to-head record.
Atalanta's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for a fourth straight season appear to be all but over as it was eight points behind Juventus.
José Mourinho's Roma moved to within five points of the top four after winning at struggling Sampdoria 1-0.
HAT TRICK
Beto bagged a hat trick to help Udinese recover to beat Cagliari 5-1 in a relegation fight.
Udinese moved 11 points above the relegation zone. Cagliari, whose midfielder Alberto Grassi was sent off, remained three points above the drop.
Fiorentina beat 10-man Empoli 1-0, with Nicolás González heading in a free kick seconds after Sebastiano Luperto was sent off following a second yellow card.
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