Italian Super Cup: Inter defeats Atalanta, reaches final

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Defending Serie A champion Inter Milan extended its recent dominance over current leader Atalanta with a 2-0 victory in the Italian Super Cup semifinals on Thursday.

Denzel Dumfries scored two second-half goals for the Nerazzurri, which have now won seven straight against Atalanta.

Juventus will face AC Milan on Friday in the other semifinal match, with Sergio Conceicao making his debut as Milan coach after Paulo Fonseca was fired.

The final of the four-team tournament in Saudi Arabia is scheduled for Monday.

Inter is aiming to win the Super Cup for the fourth straight year.

Dumfries scored first with an acrobatic overhead kick from close range then finished off a counterattack with a long-range strike.

Inter also threatened several times in the first half but was consistently denied by difficult saves from Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi.

Atalanta surprisingly kept Ademola Lookman, Charles De Ketelaere and Ederson on the bench at the start. The three players came on near the hour mark and Ederson had a potential goal waved off for offside after a VAR check.

Inter beat Atalanta 4-0 twice in Serie A last year, in February and August.

This season, Atalanta and Napoli currently hold a one-point lead over Inter, which has a game in hand.

The only negative note for Inter was that Marcus Thuram exited with an apparent left thigh issue at halftime.