Defending Serie A champions Inter returned to the summit following a 4-0 thrashing of rock-bottom Cagliari at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The Nerazzurri took advantage of Milan’s slump at Udinese and Napoli’s shock home defeat to Empoli to regain supremacy in the table.
Given Cagliari’s utterly underwhelming Serie A season so far, it was always a question of how many and Inter delivered four. Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark to set the tone for another jaw-dropping performance from Simone Inzaghi’s side. The Nerazzurri came close to doubling the lead on the stroke of half-time, but Alessio Cragno thwarted Martinez’s penalty.
It turned out the Cagliari goalkeeper only delayed the inevitable. Just five minutes into the second half, Alexis Sanchez scored on his rare Serie A to put daylight between the sides. The Chilean went on to deliver an assist to Hakan Calhanoglu, who scored a stunning long-range screamer six minutes beyond the hour-mark.
Cragno may have saved his penalty, but Martinez took it personally. The Argentine striker displayed impressive chest control to put himself in a one-on-one situation. While the Cagliari keeper denied him in the dying moments of the first half, Lautaro left him no chance in the 68th minute to seal the three points for Inter.
Nicolò Barella, who joined the Nerazzurri from Cagliari two years ago, set up Martinez for Inter’s third. The energetic midfielder was on the pitch all 90 minutes, putting on another top-class performance to keep the visitors’ midfield shy.
However, playing against his former side was a ‘strange feeling’ for Barella, who delivered a verdict on his emotion in the post-match interview.
“Playing against Cagliari always gives me a strange feeling,” he said, as relayed by SempreInter. “It’s a very important match for us and a very important match for them.
“In the last few games, they have begun to pick up points which they couldn’t at the beginning of the season. They’ve found themselves in a good place.
“Since we have to fight for the title, all the points are fundamentally important, you can’t afford to leave them on the table.“