Rome, May 4 (IANS) Inter Milan clinched its 21st Serie A title with three rounds to spare after a 2-0 win over Parma at San Siro.

Romanian coach Cristian Chivu achieved the feat of winning the Scudetto in his first year in charge of Serie A since the start of the season. The last person to do so was Sacchi at AC Milan.

Goals from Marcus Thuram and Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured the victory, sealing Inter’s second league title in three seasons.

Inter entered the match with a nine-point lead over second-placed Napoli, which had been held to a 0-0 draw by Como on Saturday, meaning a single point was enough to confirm the title.

The home side dominated early but struggled to break down Parma until first-half stoppage time, when Piotr Zielinski’s pass found Thuram, who fired home.

Inter maintained the pressure after the break and doubled its lead in the 80th minute, as Lautaro Martinez set up fellow substitute Mkhitaryan for a close-range finish.

“I’m happy for these players, for the club and for the fans, because they had to put up with the narrative and the teasing from those who always tried to downplay the work they had done,” said coach Cristian Chivu. “The team did well to roll up their sleeves, rebuild, and find the right motivation to have a competitive season.”

Martinez added, “I’m very happy. We always said this was our objective, and now we have to enjoy this moment because it wasn’t easy to achieve such an important goal. In football and in life, you go through difficult moments. Last season is the example, when we came close to winning everything but in the end didn’t lift a trophy. This season, however, shows that in football and in life you have to get back up, give everything, and never give up.

Elsewhere, AC Milan lost 2-0 to Sassuolo despite playing more than an hour with 10 men, while Juventus was held 1-1 at home by already-relegated Hellas Verona.

The results leave the race for Champions League places wide open, with just nine points separating Napoli and sixth-placed Roma, which has a game in hand.

Also on Sunday, Bologna and Cagliari drew 0-0.

–IANS

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