Lukaku stars as Inter beat Sassuolo to tighten grip on Champions League spot

Inter Milan warmed up for their Champions League semi-final showdown with AC Milan with an entertaining 4-2 win over Sassuolo on Saturday while their city rivals floundered 2-0 at Serie A strugglers Spezia.

A Romelu Lukaku brace, a further strike from Lautaro Martinez, and an unfortunate Ruan Tressoldi own goal were enough for Inter to claim the win and move level on 66 points with second-placed Juventus.

Inter hold a 2-0 lead over Milan ahead of Tuesday's second leg and Simone Inzaghi's side looks almost certain to reach the club's first Champions League final since it last won it in 2010.

Inter's chances of qualifying for next season's edition of Europe's top club competition were also greatly improved by Saturday's win, which came after top-four rivals Lazio, Milan, and Atalanta all dropped points.

Inter are five points ahead of fifth-placed Milan, but after looking like they were going to cruise to the win, they didn't end up having it their own way.

Lukaku put Inter ahead shortly before the break after both Domenico Berardi and Joaquin Correa both had goals ruled out for offside.

Ten minutes after the restart, Tressoldi headed Raoul Bellanova's cross into his own net and the match seemed over three minutes later when Martinez's effort was deflected in again by Tressoldi.

Headers from Matheus Henrique and Davide Frattesi pulled Sassuolo back into the game until Lukaku finally sealed the points with a fine low finish with two minutes remaining.

Przemyslaw Wisniewski and Salvatore Esposito struck their first Serie A goals in the final 15 minutes to sink Milan and give Spezia their first win in two months.