MILAN — Lautaro Martinez returned from injury and Inter Milan immediately looked like the Serie A leader again.
The Argentine striker scored twice in his first action since February, leading Inter to a commanding 5-2 victory over visiting Roma at San Siro on Sunday and ending a four-match winless streak across all competitions.
Inter cruise past Roma
Lautaro found the net in the second minute and the 52nd minute. Hakan Calhanoglu — fresh off helping Turkey qualify for the World Cup — Marcus Thuram and Nicolò Barella also scored for Inter.
Gianluca Mancini, along with Barella a member of the Italy team that failed to qualify for the World Cup, scored a momentary equalizer for Roma. Lorenzo Pellegrini then pulled one back for Roma after the Giallorossi had fallen four goals behind.
Standings update: Inter, which saw its advantage sliced from 10 to six points before the international break, moved nine points ahead of city rival AC Milan and 10 ahead of defending champion Napoli, which hosts Milan on Monday.
Bologna preps for Aston Villa
Earlier, Bologna won 2-1 at relegation-threatened Cremonese to move up to eighth before hosting Aston Villa in the Europa League quarterfinal on Thursday.
Joao Mario and Jonathan Rowe scored early for Bologna before Federico Bonazzoli pulled one back late for Cremonese by converting a penalty. Youssef Maleh of Cremonese and Lewis Ferguson of Bologna were each sent off in stoppage time.
Cremonese was without former Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who sat out due to a muscle injury.
Around Serie A
Torino won 1-0 at last-place Pisa with an 80th-minute goal from Che Adams.