Goals from Lautaro Martinez and Nicolo Barella gave Inter all three points as they overtake Juventus and move just one point off the top six.
Simone Inzaghi’s side dominated possession as expected in the opening exchanges, all without creating too much in terms of dangerous opportunities.That was until Lautaro Martinez broke the deadlock with his first shot of the match after 19 minutes. Nicolo Barella found Martinez who struck viciously from distance past Sepe and into the bottom corner.
Salernitana struggled to find a rhythm on the ball, their best effort of the half came when Kostanos smashed an effort into the side netting.
The second half played out in a similar fashion to the first, once again Inter dominated possession. They found the decisive second goal in the 59th minute, meaning they scored in the 19th minute of both the first half and the 19th minute of the second half. Hakan Calhanoglu played a super ball over the top to Barella who had a lot do, but did it wonderfully. He controlled well, before bringing the ball onto his left foot and then smashing it into the bottom corner to effectively kill off the match.
From then on it was a very professional display from Inter. Inzaghi’s side, who have conceded 10 times in the second half of Serie A matches this season, managed possession expertly and limited Salernitana to very little. In the end, the home side came out of this match with three valuable points as they look to close the gap on the top six following a slow start to the season.
TALKING POINT – INTER FINDING THEIR FEET IN SERIE A
Today’s win marks the first time Inter have won consecutive matches in Serie A since the very beginning of the season, when they beat Lecce and Spezia in the first and second games of the season.
It has been an inconsistent season so far for Inter, who have already lost as many games in the league as they did in the whole of last year (4), but this win makes it two victories from two and will give them great encouragement going into their next two games against Fiorentina and Sampdoria, after that it’s the big one, Juventus away.
MAN OF THE MATCH – NICOLO BARELLA (INTER)
Nicolo Barella put in a superb performance for Inter, winning possession back and inspiring Inter whilst on the ball. His goal came at a brilliant time and killed off any realistic chance of a Salernitana comeback, he also provided the assist for Inter’s opening goal. Some of his passing was absolutely superb, switching it from side to side, short and long, he did it all today.
PLAYER RATINGS:
INTER: Onana 7, Skriniar 7, De Vrij 7, Acerbi 7, Dumfries 7, Barella 8, Calhanoglu 8, Mkhitaryan 7, Dimarco 8, Dzeko 7, Martinez 7
SUBS: Gosens 7, Asllani 6, Correa 6, Darmian N/A, Bellanova N/A
SALERNITANA: Sepe 7, Mazzocchi 6, Pirola 6, Daniliuc 6, Gyomber 6, Candreva 7, Coulibaly 6, Vilhena 6, Kasatanos 6, Piatek 6, Dia 6
SUBS: Valencia 6, Bonazzoli 6, Sambia 5, Bonihen 6, Bronn 6
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
14′ GOAL FOR INTER MILAN! – Lautaro Martinez unleashes a wonderful strike low into the bottom corner from outside the box. Three Salernitana players surrounded him but none got close enough to stop him.
20′ BIG CHANCE FOR SALERNITANA – That’s more like it for Nicola’s side! Kastanos fires a vicious effort into the side netting.
31′ SO CLOSE TO 2-0! – Edin Dzeko is slipped in brilliantly by Nico Barella, Dzekoa unleashes a shot but Gyomber is on hand to block it perfectly and it’s out for a corner.
54′ DIA WITH A CHANCE – An inch perfect ball from Candreva is met first time by Dia, his header is palmed behind for a corner by Onana who was taking no chances.
59′ GOAL FOR INTER! The second goal that Inter wanted! Barella takes the ball down magnificently, checks back onto his left foot before smashing it past Sepe into the bottom corner. What a ball from Calhanoglu also.
88′ BIG CHANCE Nicolo Barella plays a fantastic ball over to Gosens who knocks it back for Calhanoglu who blazes over.
