The Argentine footballer scored a brace against Cagliari on Sunday night to help his side secure a 3-1 win and take his tally to 25 goals across all competitions this term.
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Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez is in stunning season having crossed the 20-goal mark in the Serie A this season. The Argentine footballer scored a brace against Cagliari on Sunday night to help his side secure a 3-1 win and take his tally to 25 goals across all competitions this term. The result meant that the race for Scudetto would go to the final day as second-placed Inter are just two points adrift of the leaders AC Milan. It was a must win match for the Nerazzurri or they would have handed the title to Milan as Matteo Darmian put them in front, heading home a wonderful Ivan Perisic cross.
? | RESULTS#Lautaro is your #CagliariInter Man of the Match pic.twitter.com/UHvwK1gV6L
— Inter ??? (@Inter_en) May 17, 2022
And then, Martinez broke away and finished clinically to put Inter ahead, but Charalampos Lykogiannis’ stinging shot gave Cagliari hope of finding a way back into the game. However, Martinez sealed the three points with a well taken finish. The pressure was on Inter after Milan beat Atalanta earlier in the day. There was a small period of nerves the reigning champions weathered the storm and the quality of Perisic and Martinez took them through.
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Meanwhile the double helped Martinez to become only the sixth player in Inter’s history to score 20 goals in a single season before the age of 25. The last Inter player to score 20-goals in a season was Mauro Icardi, who did it twice. In 2014-15, at 22, he hit 27 and two years later he scored 26. Before Icardi, it was the Brazilian legend Ronaldo, who was 21 when he joined the Italian side in 1997 on the back of two world-record fees and Ballon d’Or. The World Cup winner kicked off his career with 34 in all competitions but only reached double figures in one more season before leaving for Real Madrid in 2002.
Martinez has scored 78 goals and registered 16 assists in 165 appearances for the Nerazzurri since making the move to the Serie A giants from Racing club in 2018. Martinez has played a pivotal role to help keep his side’s slim hopes of defending their title alive. Last season, Inter won the title dominantly by accumulating a whopping 91 points in 38 games, 13 points more than the second-placed Milan. Striker Romelu Lukaku was a key figure in Inter’s title triumph, as he netted 24 times. Martinez provided ample support to Lukaku by scoring 17 goals.
Last summer, Lukaku moved to Chelsea and Martinez was given the responsibility of leading the attack. The 24-year-old has so far done a very good job and Eden Dzeko, who was brought in as a replacement for Lukaku has been pretty handy with 13 scalps and 5 assists to his name in 36 Serie games. Inter will hosts Sampdoria on the final matchday, while Milan would travel to Sassuolo to decide the champions of Italy.
