Inter, Juve celebrate Christmas with Serie A victories

Rome, Dec 24 (IANS) Inter Milan and Juventus approached Christmas with victories over Lecce and Frosinone respectively.

Having suffered an exit in midweek's Coppa Italia after a 2-1 defeat to Bologna, Inter had to do without Lautaro Martinez, and Marko Arnautovic paired up with Marcus Thuram in front, reports Xinhua.

Yann Aurel Bisseck had the chance to put Inter ahead in the 41st minute, but saw his attempt smack the bar. Bisseck eventually got his maiden goal minutes later as Hakan Calhanoglu's free kick found him to steer in a header.

The Nerazzurri made it 2-0 in the 78th minute when Arnautovic's smart back-heel pass allowed Nicolo Barella to seal the win.

Lecce's situation went from bad to worse in the 84th minute as Lameck Banda lost his temper to express his dissent that resulted in his red card.

Elsewhere, Juve's head coach Massimiliano Allegri surprisingly started starlet Kenan Yildiz on the forward line instead of Dusan Vlahovic. The 18-year-old repaid the trust with a spectacular goal in the 12th minute as his mazy run on the left side shook off three defenders before placing a low-strike into the net.

Frosinone got back on level terms six minutes into the second half when Ilario Monterisi's through ball tore Juve's defense apart, allowing Jaime Baez to beat Wojciech Szczesny one-on-one from a tight angle.

Szczesny palmed away Abdou Harroui's rocket, while Weston McKennie should have restored the lead for Juve in the 75th minute but only saw his blockbuster rattle the woodwork.

Six minutes later, McKennie was involved in Juve's second goal as his floated pass set up substitute Vlahovic for a looping header.

Vlahovic thought he had bagged a brace when he drilled home in the 90th minute, but the Serbian was slightly offside in the build-up.

Juve remain second with 40 points, four points behind Inter.

Also on Saturday, Roma bounced back from their defeat to Bologna in the previous round to conquer nine-man Napoli 2-0.

Matteo Politano saw a straight red card in the 66th minute due to a deliberate kick on Nicola Zalewski. Then Lorenzo Pellegrini tipped the balance of the tie in the 76th minute.

Napoli had another player down in the 86th minute when Victor Osimhen received his second yellow card, making it toothless for the Partenopei to turn it around, while Romelu Lukaku grabbed another goal in injury time through a counter-attack.

In other fixtures, Lewis Ferguson's late winner sent Bologna past Atalanta 1-0, Hellas Verona beat Cagliari 2-0, and Torino shared the spoils with Udinese at 1-1.