After their shaky start in Lecce one week ago, Inter needed a convincing performance to reclaim their status among the top contenders for the Serie A title. Simone Inzaghi and his boys got the job done as Saturday night as they brushed aside Spezia with goals from Lautaro Martinez, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Joaquin Correa.
It was a night to remember for the Nerazzurri, whose fan base was eager to welcome back the magical LuLa partnership at a sold out San Siro stadium. Martinez and his partner in crime Romelu Lukaku promptly obliged, cooperating as they used to do before the Belgian’s escape to Chelsea to wrap the goal that opened the scoring for Inter.
Inter added two more in the second half as they made short work of a Spezia lineup that never appeared capable of posing any threat to Samir Handanovic, confirming that the gap between the traditional powerhouses and the mid-to-bottom table clubs seems to be widening dramatically in Serie A.
There was absolutely no competition at the San Siro and it took a couple of fine pieces of goalkeeping on the part of Spezia’s new custodian Barlomiej Dragowski to keep the score at 0-0 until 35 minutes. That’s when Lukaku grabbed a long-range cross and promptly delivered the ball to El Toro Martinez, whose shot left no chance to the Polish goalie.
Lukaku was eager to write his name to the scoresheet too but couldn’t go beyond a powerful header that crashed into the crossbar before the half time break.
The pattern didn’t change after the restart. Calhanoglu made it two for Inter as he slotted the ball home from close range, finalizing a chaotic action in the Aquilotti‘s area. The third goal was a courtesy from Joaquin Correa who came in a substitute for Lautaro. El Tucu made the best out of an Edin Dzeko assist to set the score at 3-0 and maintain Inter’s perfect record after two Serie A games.
As for Spezia, the Bianconeri endured a brutal reality check after winning their seasonal debut against Empoli one week ago. Though leaving the San Siro with some points was expected to be no easy task, Luca Gotti and his boys did not even put up a fight. They will need much more than this if they want to avoid relegation for the third season in a row.
Pure ?????tainment ?⚫?#ForzaInter #InterSpezia 3-0 (FT) pic.twitter.com/GQ6NboPReK
— Inter (@Inter_en) August 20, 2022
MATCH SCORECARD
August 20, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 2
INTER – SPEZIA 3-0
SCORERS: 35′ Lautaro Martinez, 52′ Calhanoglu, 82′ Correa
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INTER (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, A. Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic (84′ Asllani), Calhanoglu (67′ Gagliardini), Dimarco (67′ Gosens); Lautaro Martinez (67′ Correa), Lukaku (67′ Dzeko) (Cordaz, Onana, Bellanova, D’Ambrosio, Darmian, Agoumé) Coach: S. Inzaghi |
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SPEZIA (3-5-1-1): Dragowski; Caldara (67′ Hristov), Kiwior, Nikolaou; Gyasi (89′ Holm), Bourabia, Sala (67′ Strelec), S. Bastoni (79′ Kovalenko), Reca; Agudelo (89′ Ellertsson); Nzola (Zoet, Zovko, Ekdal, Podgoreanu, Capradossi, Maldini, Bertola, Balde) Coach: Gotti |
NOTES: No Yellow Cards; Added Time: 1st Half: 0′, 2nd Half: 3′
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