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Inter bounce back from two down to demolish Pisa and extend lead at the top of Serie A

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Inter bounce back from two down to demolish Pisa and extend lead at the top of Serie A
Sport

Sport

Inter bounce back from two down to demolish Pisa and extend lead at the top of Serie A

2026-01-24 06:12 Last Updated At:06:31

MILAN (AP) — Serie A leader Inter Milan recovered from conceding two early goals to beat lowly Pisa 6-2 and open a six-point gap on Friday.

One of the shock results of the season looked possible at the San Siro when Inter found itself 2-0 down midway through the first half against a team that had not won in 10 league games.

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Pisa's Stefano Moreo shoots on goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo shoots on goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco scores his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco scores his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Ange-Yoan Bonny scores his side's fifth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Ange-Yoan Bonny scores his side's fifth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

However, three goals in the seven minutes before halftime transformed the match and put Inter on the way to a ninth win in 10 league games.

Pisa took the lead after 11 minutes thanks to a moment of inspiration from veteran striker Stefano Moreo. Yann Sommer’s pass out was poor and Moreo pounced before looking up from 35 meters out and stroking the ball over the goalkeeper’s head into the empty net.

Stefano doubled Pisa’s lead in the 23rd with a header from a corner kick.

Inter pulled one back from the penalty spot seven minutes before halftime when Piotr Zielinski converted after Matteo Tramoni handled inside the box.

Lautaro Martínez nodded in the equalizer two minutes later and Francesco Pio Esposito hit the third on the stroke of halftime when he headed home a cross from Alessandro Bastoni.

Federico Dimarco made it 4-2 eight minutes from time, Ange-Yoan Bonny added a fifth with a nice individual effort four minutes later, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan rounded off the scoring with a sixth in stoppage time.

Inter was six points clear of city rival AC Milan and nine ahead of defending champion Napoli.

The win was especially welcome for Inter given that the top four play each other this weekend. AC Milan is at fourth-placed Roma on Sunday, and fifth-placed Juventus is at home to Napoli on the same day.

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Pisa's Stefano Moreo shoots on goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo shoots on goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Pisa's Stefano Moreo, left, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Francesco Pio Esposito celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco scores his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco scores his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Ange-Yoan Bonny scores his side's fifth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Ange-Yoan Bonny scores his side's fifth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pisa, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the energy-rich region as global energy concerns mounted, as American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic.

Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates, and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said.

Iran's joint military command also announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East, a threat that would put at risk particularly Dubai, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.

Earlier, a projectile hit a container ship off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, setting it ablaze and forcing most of the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military said. Kuwait said its defenses downed eight Iranian drones and Saudi Arabia said it intercepted five drones heading toward the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field.

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic in the narrow strait through which about a fifth of all oil is shipped from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean. It has also targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations, aiming at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end their strikes.

The U.N. Security Council was to vote later Wednesday on a resolution sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council demanding Iran stop attacking its Arab neighbors.

Israel said it renewed attacks on Tehran, Iran's capital, following multiple strikes Tuesday that residents described as some of the heaviest during the war. Explosions were also heard in Beirut and in southern Lebanon after Israel said it was hitting targets connected to the Iran-linked militant Hezbollah group.

The attacks set a building ablaze in central Beirut's densely populated Aicha Bakkar area, engulfing the top two floors. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Other Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed seven people, and a Red Cross worker also died Wednesday of wounds sustained Monday, when his team was hit by an Israeli strike while they were rescuing people from an earlier attack.

Nearly 500 people have been killed so far in Lebanon since Hezbollah triggered the latest round of fighting with Israel after the American and Israeli attacks on Iran started.

Israel warned of three Iranian attacks early Wednesday, with sirens heard in Tel Aviv and elsewhere but no immediate reports of casualties.

Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed six ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, a major U.S.- and Saudi-operated facility and intercepted two drones over the eastern city of Hafar al-Batin.

In the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman, a cargo ship was hit with a projectile and set on fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military.

The monitoring group also reported an attack on a container ship off the United Arab Emirates, saying the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.” Another ship was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf, it said. The crew was reported safe.

Air defenses in the UAE worked to intercept incoming Iranian fire since early Wednesday morning. Iranian attacks have killed six people and wounded 122 others there so far. Bahrain also reported incoming Iranian fire early in the morning.

At the United Nations, the Security Council was to vote Wednesday afternoon on the Gulf Cooperation Council resolution, according to three diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, condemns Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. The measure calls for an immediate end to all strikes and threats against neighboring states, including through proxies.

It would be the first Security Council resolution considered since the start of the war on Feb. 28.

Oil prices remained well below Monday's peaks but the price of Brent crude, the international standard, was still up some 20% Wednesday from when the war began, and consumers around the world are already feeling the pain at the pump.

The spike in oil prices has been rocking financial markets worldwide because of worries that the war could block the global flow of oil and natural gas for a long time.

The U.S. military said Tuesday it had destroyed 16 Iranian minelayers near the Strait of Hormuz, though U.S. President Donald Trump said in social media posts that there were no reports yet of Iran mining the passage, a prospect that experts warned of preceding the war.

If the strait is mined, it could take at least weeks to clean it up once the conflict is over.

Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the strait making so-called “dark” transits -- meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System tracks, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.

The security firm Neptune P2P Group said Wednesday there had been seven ships pass through the strait since March 8. Of them, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said. In ordinary times the strait typically sees 100 ships or more transit daily from the Persian Gulf into the Gulf of Oman.

Meanwhile, the commodity-tracking firm Kpler said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. A tanker loaded roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on March 7, it said.

Meanwhile, concerns grew over the health of Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei after comments about him “being injured.”

The 56-year-old Khamenei — the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has not been seen since since becoming supreme leader on Monday. His father and wife both were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the conflict.

In addition to the nearly 500 people killed in Lebanon, Iran has said more than 1,300 people have been killed there and Israel has reported 12 people dead.

The U.S. has lost seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.

Many foreign nationals have been getting out of the Persian Gulf region since the war began, including over 45,000 U.K. citizens, the British Foreign Office said. Some 40,000 people returned to the United States, according to the State Department.

Magdy reported from Cairo, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Sally Abou AIJoud in Beirut, Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Julie Watson in San Diego, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this story.

Rescue workers gather at the site where Israeli airstrikes hit apartments in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers gather at the site where Israeli airstrikes hit apartments in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People take shelter in an underground metro station as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the country’s flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

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