Martinez leaves it late as Inter win third straight Supercoppa

Inter Milan had to put in a lot of effort, but they emerged victorious with a 1-0 win over Napoli in the final of the Supercoppa Italiana. This remarkable achievement marks Inter Milan's third consecutive triumph in the tournament and their eighth overall in the history of the club.

Inter, last year's Supercoppa champions, dominated the first half of the match. Federico Dimarco, who scored in last year's final, came close to opening the scoring within the first 15 minutes with a volley that narrowly missed the target.

Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan also had half-chances, but it was Lautaro Martinez who eventually tapped the ball into the net. Unfortunately, the goal was disallowed due to an offside in the build-up. Napoli struggled to threaten Inter's defense, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia being their only real danger.

In the second half, Napoli had an opportunity to take the lead through Kvaratskhelia, but his curling effort was saved by Yann Sommer.

However, Napoli's fortunes took a turn for the worse when Giovanni Simeone was shown a second yellow card and sent off in the 60th minute. This was a stark contrast to his earlier heroics when he scored the opening goal of the semi-finals.

With Napoli down to 10 men, Inter took control of the game. Marcus Thuram missed a close-range shot after being set up by Benjamin Pavard, and moments later, Thuram failed to convert at the back post after Pavard flicked on a corner.

Napoli held on, hoping to take the game to penalties, while Inter looked to their substitutes for attacking inspiration. With five minutes remaining, Alexis Sanchez and Marko Arnautovic combined, but Gollini spilled Arnautovic's close-range effort.

As the game seemed destined for a penalty shootout, Martinez broke Napoli's hearts in injury time with a skillful finish into the bottom corner, securing the cup for Inter. This marked Martinez's third consecutive Supercoppa Italiana final win for the Nerazzurri.

Napoli, on the other hand, is yet to achieve a three-match winning streak across all competitions this season, which means they have to go back to the drawing board.

In the meantime, Liverpool has made history by becoming the second team ever to win three consecutive titles, surpassing AC Milan's record of eight total victories.