The Japan Times - Bullish Martinez eyeing treble for Inter after statement win at Atalanta

Argentina striker Martinez made sure of a key win in a three-way title battle with his 18th goal of the season in all competitions in the 87th minute in Bergamo, and he was bullish about his team's chances of repeating a feat Inter achieved under Jose Mourinho 15 years ago.

Simone Inzaghi's Inter have pulled further away from closest rivals Napoli, who could only manage a goalless draw at lowly Venezia in the day's early kick-off, and are still in the Champions League and Italian Cup.

Inter face Bayern Munich, who they beat in the 2010 Champions League final, next month while two Milan derbies await in the domestic cup semi-finals which will also be played in April.

"It's almost like we don't want to say it but yes," said Inter skipper Martinez on DAZN when asked about the treble.

"It will be difficult but we'll go for it because we want to win every match we play. It's what we work for."

Martinez's confident mood came after Inter took a big step towards retaining their league crown in a tetchy match which ended with both teams down to 10 men and Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini sent to the stands.

Carlos Augusto put Inter ahead eight minutes after half-time, taking advantage of distracted Atalanta defending immediately after a five-minute pause in the match for a fan who needed medical assistance.

- Inter take control -

The Brazilian headed home Hakan Calhanoglu's corner and the champions never looked back from that point.

Inter's cause was helped by Ederson being booked twice within a matter of seconds, for dissent and then sarcastically applauding referee Davide Massa, and leaving Atalanta a man down from the 81st minute.

Martinez rammed home Inter's second six minutes later and soon after a livid Gasperini, who was still raging at Ederson's sending-off, was dismissed by Massa.

That wasn't the end of the action however as with 11 minutes of added time due to the fan previously needing help in the stands, Alessandro Bastoni was punished for a series of fouls with the match's third red card.

That changed nothing for Atalanta however, whose dream of winning their first ever Scudetto is fading as Gasperini's side stay third and now trail Inter by six points with nine matches remaining.

Atalanta haven't won at home in Serie A since before Christmas and Gasperini was left to stew over Ederson's dismissal which he claimed killed an even game.

"That referee ruined the end of the match because you hear a lot worse said to referees than that sarcastic applause," said Gasperini.

"We lost a player who should not have been sent off... to ruin a match like that for that sort of incident is really bad for the fans and the two teams on the pitch."

- Motta safe, for now -

Thiago Motta's job at Juventus is safe for now but he remains under immense pressure to turn around results after a 3-0 thumping at rivals Fiorentina.

The Turin giants barely laid a glove on eighth-placed Fiorentina who ran riot in front of delighted supporters -- including iconic former striker Gabriel Batistuta -- at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

The nature of Sunday's defeat, and the fact it came after last weekend's four-goal home hammering by Atalanta, has left Motta in a precarious position, even if Juve's sporting director said they were focussed on a "long-term project".

"Right now we need to be united because you get out of a crisis by sticking together. We're obviously disappointed, we put in two bad performances in what has been an up and down season," said Cristiano Giuntoli to Sky.

"But we're convinced that we can get out of this all together."

To make matters worse for Motta, his old team Bologna have moved one point above his current club into fourth place after a thumping 5-0 win over sixth-placed Lazio, who are only a point behind Juve.

Y.Kato--JT