Italian league: Mauro Icardi inspires Inter Milan
Striker scores twice as Italian league leaders defeat Udinese.
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-12-14 01:14 GMT
Milan: Argentinian Mauro Icardi signalled his return to action with a first brace of the season as Inter Milan beat Udinese 4-0 to go four points clear of Fiorentina ahead of key title clashes on Sunday.
Udinese’s last defeat at their refurbished Friuli stadium came nearly three months ago, in a 3-2 reverse to Inter’s city rivals AC Milan.
But Roberto Mancini’s visitors turned on the style to register their biggest win this season and maintain their bid for a first scudetto since their treble-winning campaign in 2010. Fiorentina remain second but are now four points adrift ahead of a difficult trip to champions Juventus on Sunday when Napoli, in third at five points adrift, welcome Roma.
Roma are in fourth place but now eight points adrift with a one-point lead on Juve. Mancini cooled the scudetto talk but admitted his side, which has conceded a league low of nine goals, have made the connection that could be the key to their title push.
“We’re only 16 games into the season, there’s time,” Mancini told Sky Sport. “And a lot of teams will be fighting for the title. “Our aim is (to qualify for) the Champions League. The players are starting to play well together and even when we’ve been beaten they’ve always tried to make amends. “I think there’s a real connection between the players and this is important. Your game gets better and you score goals but it's crucial to have players who want to work for one another,” Mancini added.
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