Inter beat Empoli to keep pressure on Serie A leaders Napoli

Inter Milan kept in touch with Napoli after seeing off struggling Empoli 3-1 on Sunday and going three points behind the Serie A leaders.

Goals in the second half from Lautaro Martinez, Denzel Dumfries and Marcus Thuram ensured a hard-fought win for champions Inter at the San Siro.

Napoli have become the team to beat thanks to their thrilling 3-2 win at Atalanta, who are seven points off the pace in third, on Saturday but Inter also have a game in hand.

However Inter have a packed schedule due to their Champions League commitments while Napoli have no European football after their disastrous title defence last season.

As well as their final two league phase fixtures in the Champions League -- against Sparta Prague and Monaco in consecutive weeks -- Simone Inzaghi's team have the Milan derby and trips to Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta between now and mid-March.

Captain Martinez's distance effort in the 55th minute took his league total to eight goals from 18 appearances, some way off the 24 he racked up on the way to guiding Inter to their 20th league title last term.

The Argentina striker hadn't scored at home since early November before Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Bologna but his goal against Empoli was his second in as many matches at the San Siro.

Dumfries' thumping header, from Kristjan Asllani's 79th-minute corner, was key as Inter were far from their best and once Inter loanee Sebastiano Esposito halved the deficit for 14th-placed Empoli in the 79th minute a wave of worry swept the stadium.

Fans breathed a collective sign of relief 10 minutes later when Thuram swept in his 13th league goal of the campaign to seal the points and keep Inter's title defence rolling on.