Icardi fires Inter to top

Argentina striker Mauro Icardi bagged another brace to send Inter Milan top of Serie A on Saturday with a 3-1 win at Cagliari.

In-form skipper Icardi opened Inter's account after 29 minutes in Sardinia, before adding a second late on to bring his tally to 15 goals this season.

Inter's Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic came off the bench and immediately found the net on 55 minutes, with Leonardo Pavoletti reducing the deficit for Cagliari 19 minutes from time.

"We didn't play great, but we brought the result home," said Icardi. "The important thing is that the team wins with my goals."

Luciano Spalletti's side remain unbeaten 14 games into the season with 36 points, putting them one point ahead of Napoli who travel to Udinese on Sunday, and five ahead of champions Juventus who host Crotone.

"At first we suffered but this was the performance of a strong side," Spalletti told Mediaset Premium. "Cagliari were pressing us so hard it was violent. They were rushing at us at full force the second we got the ball.

Icardi's second put him joint top of the Serie A scorers chart, but the Argentine refused to comment on reports that Real Madrid would be ready to activate the 110 million-euro release clause in his contract.

"I don't talk about these things, it is too soon to talk about the market," he insisted. "Real? I'm not answering, there are people who work on these things, they do their job."