Inter Milan keep pace with Napoli in 4-goal Lecce rout

Inter Milan delivered a commanding performance as they cruised to a 4-0 victory at Lecce on Sunday to stay on the heels of Serie A leaders Napoli.

The result kept Inter second in the standings with 50 points, three behind Napoli and with a game in hand. Lecce sit fourth from bottom with 20 points.

With Napoli having opened up a six point lead following their 2-1 home win against Juventus on Saturday, Inter were determined to close the gap again and started aggressively.

Six minutes in, Marcus Thuram evaded a defender with a slick step-over before passing to Davide Frattesi, who volleyed into the net for Inter's first goal.

After Inter had two goals disallowed for offside in quick succession, manager Simone Inzaghi was left visibly frustrated and was shown a yellow card for stepping outside his technical area while voicing his displeasure.

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Lautaro Martínez made it 2-0 for Inter six minutes before the break, firing a left-footed strike from the edge of the box that soared into the top corner.

Inter continued to dominate following the interval, with Denzel Dumfries battling his way into a tight position near the goal and slotting the ball into the far bottom corner to make it 3-0.

The nightmare deepened for Lecce just three minutes later, as goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone, rushing out to intercept a through ball, tripped Frattesi's legs in the process. Mehdi Taremi converted the resulting penalty with ease to make it 4-0 in the 61st minute.

With the win all but secured, Inzaghi made several substitutions as he opted to take off a number of key players.

Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer denied the hosts a consolation goal when he palmed away Ylber Ramadani's long-range effort to preserve his team's clean sheet.