RIYADH – Lautaro Martinez shot Inter Milan to a third straight Italian Super Cup after netting in the final moments of 1-0 win over furious Napoli in Riyadh.
Argentina striker Martinez swept home Benjamin Pavard’s low cross in the first minute of stoppage time at Al-Awwal Park, seeing off Napoli who played the final half-hour with 10 men after Giovanni Simeone was sent off for two bookable offences.
The 26-year-old’s winner was his 21st goal in all competitions this season for Inter, who lost their Serie A lead to Juventus while in Saudi Arabia for the four-team tournament.
And he whipped his shirt off in celebration after drawing level with Christian Vieri at ninth place in Inter’s all-time goalscoring charts, with 123 strikes since arriving in 2018.
“The emotion took over and I couldn’t think,” Martinez told Mediaset according to AFP.
“It was a unique moment, I scored my 100th goal in the Italian Cup Final and my 123rd goal in the Super Cup, allowing me to match a legend like Christian Vieri.”
This year’s edition was the first to be played in four-team format, but failed to capture the imagination of the Saudi public.
Organisers were also embarrassed by a portion of the crowd, reportedly the locals and not travelling Italians, whistling the quickly-arranged minute’s silence for deceased former Italy striker Gigi Riva before the start of the second half.
Riva, who died yesterday evening, is Italy’s top scorer with 35 goals in 42 appearances and shot Cagliari to their only league title in 1970.
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