After suffering a surprising 2-1 defeat at home against Sassuolo, Inter managed to bounce back as the Nerazzurri moulded their way past Salernitana in a 4-0 victory at the Stadio Arechi. Lautaro Martinez’s magic on the pitch ensured Inzaghi’s side to seize all three points despite a worrisome first half.
Inter commenced the fixture at full throttle, sending numerous waves of attacks throughout the opening twenty minutes of play.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu delivered a fine cross from a free-kick outside the box, finding Marcus Thuram in a great position in-front of goal. The Frenchman’s headed attempt was brilliantly saved by shot-stopper Guillermo Ochoa as he leaped in the air and managed to tip the ball above the bar.
The Nerazzurri attempted to stretch the play out-wide and break the deadlock with crosses towards the middle of the box, but the pair of crosses from Carlos Augusto and Alexis Sanchez ended up going to waste as Thuram and the Chilean veteran were unable to hit the mark.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach striker had a handful of opportunities to break the ice as he received a fine centre from Benjamin Pavard and was found on the break with an exquisite pass from Denzel Dumfries. Despite making perfectly-timed runs in order to find himself in a great goal-scoring position, the French international lacked the typical clinical aspect of his game that he usually displays within the final third.
Concerns were raised for Inter as Salernitana spurred to life past with fifteen minutes left to play before the break, posing a threat on Inzahi’s side with direct attacking runs on the counter.
Wingers Jovane Cabral and Augustin Martegani caused Inter to struggle as the back-three were seemingly unable to cope with the immense out of pace both attackers possess when cutting towards the middle and making runs in-behind. Although major goal-scoring opportunities emerged for Paulo Sousa’s side, Inter managed to make it to the break without conceding a goal.
Whilst the Granata were seemingly more aggressive off the ball as they pressed high, Inzaghi made tactical adjustments in order to respond to Salernitana’s front-foot defending, bringing on Lautaro Martinez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Kristjan Asllani on the pitch.
The Nerazzurri skipper made his mark immediately on the fixture as he finished a fine square pass from Thuram across the box, gently lifting the ball above Ochoa to hand Inter the lead in the 62nd minute of play.
Shortly after Martinez’s moment of brilliance, the 26-year-old striker coughed the ball up in Inter’s zone, resulting in Mateusz Łęgowski finding the back of the net off the counter, finishing a threaded pass through lines with light touch through the legs of Yann Sommer.
Fortunately for Lautaro’s sake, the Polish youngster’s first Serie A goal was chalked off due to VAR ruling the equalizer offside, keeping three points in sight for Inzaghi’s side.
With roughly 15 minutes left of play, Dumfries worked relentlessly to strip the Salernitana full-back off the ball in the final third, picking out Lautaro at the focal point of the attack. The 2018 World-Cup winner diffused a fine pass into space on the right hand-side for Nicolò Barella. The Italian midfielder launched a low-driven cross towards the path of Lautaro. With no hesitation, El Toro struck a one-time volley into the back of the net to double Inter’s lead.
The Argentine doubled his goal tally within the fixture, converting a penalty from the spot after a clumsy foul on Marcus Thuram and burying a scrumptious cross from Carlos Augusto to make it four for Inter and to keep up with the pace of cross-city rivals Milan, as both Milanese clubs sit at the top of the league standings with 18 points each.