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Ademola Lookman said Atalanta had faith in a first-ever Serie A title after propelling his team provisionally to the top of Serie A with a late, decisive goal in Friday’s 2-1 win over AC Milan.

Nigerian striker Lookman continued his excellent form by scoring his 10th goal of the season with three minutes remaining at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, where enthusiastic fans chanted “We will win the league” at the final whistle.

The 27-year-old scored from a Sead Kolasinac corner to give Atalanta a club record ninth consecutive win in Italy’s top flight and give Atalanta two points clear of Napoli.

Antonio Conte’s Napoli host Lazio on Sunday evening and must beat the team that knocked them out of the Italian Cup if they are to regain their narrow lead in the table.

“I just think we continue to play the way we play, game after game, and, you know, we believe in ourselves as a team,” Lookman said when asked by Sky about Atalanta’s title hopes.

Alvaro Morata appeared to have given Milan a point in a heated atmosphere with his 22nd-minute equalizer after former Milan flop Charles De Ketelaere had given Atalanta the lead with a powerful header in the 12th minute.

But Milan coach Paulo Fonseca was furious with referee Federico La Penna, particularly that De Ketelaere was not penalized for fouling Theo Hernandez as he jumped to score Atalanta’s opener.

“Their first goal was a clear foul, there can be no doubt about that. The referee ruled against Milan,” said Fonseca, whose team is in seventh place, 12 points behind Atalanta.

Fonseca said he was “scared” about La Penna’s refereeing, having been in the VAR booth during Milan’s win over Udinese earlier in the season when Tijjani Reijnders was inexplicably sent off for an extremely soft foul became.

“I understand they have a difficult job, but it’s the same every week. They have no respect for Milan,” he added.

Atalanta now turn their attention to Tuesday’s visit of Real Madrid in the Champions League, where they can bolster their chances of direct qualification for the round of 16 and avenge their defeat in the European Super Cup in August.

Few would be surprised by Atalanta winning against Madrid, just as few would be shocked if they were crowned Italian champions in May.

Brilliantly scored goals by Italian internationals Federico Dimarco and Nicolo Barella on either side of half-time, as well as Marcus Thuram’s beautiful volley in the 67th minute, were enough for Inter to win 3-1 against Parma.

The reigning champions are four points behind Atalanta but still have a game in hand after having to abandon last weekend’s game at Fiorentina due to Edoardo Bove’s shocking collapse.

Inter are unbeaten in 14 games in all competitions and travel to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday knowing that a win would almost certainly secure the last 16 of the Champions League with two games remaining.

“We scored some great goals today…The only disappointing thing is that we conceded goals. We didn’t deserve it considering how we played in the 94 minutes,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

Parma, who scored a late own goal from Matteo Darmian, are 12th in Serie A, but Inzaghi still picked his best available XI despite a big European game looming, picking captain and star striker Lautaro Martinez for his 300th Inter- Mission.

Martinez has struggled in front of goal this season, and the Argentine striker not only missed a first-half goal that was rightly ruled out for offside, but also missed three good chances to score.

The 27-year-old had his head in his hands as he missed a great chance one-on-one with Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, six minutes after Thuram scored his tenth league goal of the season.

French attacker Thuram was born in Parma, where his father Lilian played for five seasons, winning the UEFA Cup and Italian Cup in 1999, as part of a star-studded team that also included Italian icons Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.

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