Icardi scores twice as Inter begins to turn things around

Milan - Mauro Icardi took his Serie A goal tally to a league-leading 14 with a brace in a 3-0 win over Lazio that gave Inter's fans some unexpected festive cheer.

Lazio travelled to the San Siro looking for a win that would have pushed Simone Inzaghi's men up to second at five points behind Juventus.

But the visitor - which won both fixtures against Inter last season - failed to make the most of a promising opening half when Ciro Immobile and Felipe Anderson came close to breaking the deadlock.

Lazio paid the price in 11 second-half minutes, first when Argentina midfielder Ever Banega pounced on a defensive mistake by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to beat Federico Marchetti with a searing strike into the top corner.

Icardi headed Inter's second two minutes later. The Argentine moved two goals past Roma striker Edin Dzeko and Andrea Belotti of Torino in the Serie A goal standings just nine minutes later with his second of the night.

Inter remains in seventh place but its ninth win of the campaign and fourth in six games under new coach Stefano Pioli closed the gap on Juventus, which will face AC Milan in Doha for the Supercoppa Italiana on Friday, to 12 points.