Lautaro Martinez scores hat-trick as Inter hit Crotone for six

Win was Inter's eighth successive victory in Serie A

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez kisses the ball after scoring a hat-trick against Crotone. AFP

Lautaro Martinez scored his first hat-trick for Inter Milan to help his side crush Crotone 6-2.

The rout - Inter's eighth successive Serie A win - saw Antonio Conte's side move top of the table on 36 points before city rivals AC Milan faced Benevento in Sunday's late kick off.

The match got off to the worst possible start for Inter as second-bottom Crotone took a shock 12th minute lead through Niccolo Zanellato.

However, Romelu Lukaku sent strike partner Martinez through to level eight minutes later, before an own goal from Luca Marrone put Inter in front. A Vladimir Golemic penalty then levelled things up once again.

With the quality Inter possess up front, it was only a matter of time until they put Crotone to the sword in the second half, with Martinez brilliantly giving Inter the lead in the 57th minute before Lukaku added another seven minutes later, taking his season's tally to 12 to move level with Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the Serie A goalscorers' chart.

Martinez completed his first Inter hat-trick 12 minutes from time, before Achraf Hakimi put the icing on the cake with a late sixth.

"There is great desire and it shows," said Conte as Inter target their first Serie A title since 2010 with their European campaign over this season.

"It's important to continue like this, we produce and create a lot, we score a lot of goals, it's a pity for the goals conceded."

Crotone remain 19th with just two league wins all season.

Veteran striker Edin Dzeko scored a late winner to earn Roma a 1-0 win over Sampdoria, keeping his side third in the standings, while two fantastic Piotr Zielinski goals steered Napoli to a 4-1 win at Cagliari.

On a busy afternoon of Serie A action after a winter break Atalanta thrashed high-flying Sassuolo 5-1 and Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw at Genoa.

Having seen Inter go top of the table with a 6-2 win over Crotone in the day's early kick-off, Roma looked set to fall behind in the title race as they laboured in torrential rain in the capital, failing to create any real chances in the first half.

However, moments after former Manchester United defender Chris Smalling had headed against the crossbar, the 34-year-old Dzeko scored his third goal in as many games in the 72nd minute to settle a tight contest and leave Roma six points off the top.

Napoli, looking for their first win in four league games, moved back into the top four in style with a thrashing of Cagliari.

Zielinski gave his side the lead with an arrowing, left-footed strike, before Joao Pedro equalised on the hour mark.

However, Zielinski was not done there, and he danced through the home backline two minutes later to put Napoli back in front, with a goal by Hirving Lozano and a penalty from Lorenzo Insigne making the victory more comfortable.

Lazio, having endured a miserable start to the season, had high hopes of victory at Genoa, who were languishing in the relegation zone at the start of the day.

After Ciro Immobile had given this side the lead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute - his 14th goal in his last 14 games - Lazio looked set to earn only their second win in six matches in all competitions.

They could not build on their lead, however, mustering just two further shots on target as Mattia Destro earned Genoa a point in the 58th minute, leaving Lazio ninth in the standings.

Serie A surprise package Sassuolo got a rude awakening at Atalanta, who rained in 23 shots in their rampant win, climbing to within a point of their rivals in sixth place in the standings, having played one game fewer.

Torino were another side to win convincingly, 3-0 at Parma, while Fiorentina were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Bologna.