MILAN (AP) — Davide Frattesi was given a rare start and responded with his first-ever double to help Inter Milan beat 10-man Empoli 3-0 in Serie A on Wednesday.
Frattesi, who spent a season on loan at Empoli five years ago, scored both of his goals in the second half and Lautaro Martínez sealed the result. The match had turned when Empoli defender Saba Goglichidze was sent off in the 31st minute.
Second-placed Inter moved to four points behind Serie A leader Napoli, which won 2-0 at AC Milan on Tuesday. Inter and Napoli meet at San Siro on Nov. 10.
Inter was looking to bounce back from a disappointing Derby d’Italia draw, which saw it held 4-4 by Juventus after leading 4-2.
But the Nerazzurri knew Empoli would be hard to break down. The Tuscan team was unbeaten in the first six rounds and then only lost narrowly to Lazio and Napoli. Moreover, it had only let in one goal at home.
Both sides had chances and Matteo Darmian had a goal ruled out for Inter by the video assistant referee for handball.
VAR helped Inter when Goglichidze was originally shown only a yellow card for a high and dangerous tackle on Marcus Thuram. The referee changed it to red after being told to look at it again on the pitchside monitor.
Inter broke the deadlock five minutes after the break. Darmian headed an Alessandro Bastoni cross to Frattesi from the byline and he curled it into the top far corner.
Frattesi doubled his tally in the 67th as Lautaro touched a Nicolò Barella through-ball back to him and he slotted into the bottom left corner.
Lautaro got on the scoresheet himself in the 79th after being set up by Barella. It was the Argentina forward’s 134th goal for Inter, making him the highest-scoring foreigner to play for the club.
Inter next faces Venezia, which fought back from two goals down to beat 10-man Udinese 3-2 and move off bottom spot.
Juventus was playing later on Wednesday, against Parma. Atalanta was playing Monza.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
