Inter striker Marcus Thuram impressed with three goals in the Nerazzuri’s narrow 3-2 win against a decimated Torino. In the final phase, the reigning champions almost deprived themselves of their reward.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi made a lot of changes after the 4-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the league phase and added seven new players to his starting eleven: Bisseck, Acerbi, Darmian, Frattesi, Dimarco, Thuram and Lautaro Martinez started in place by Pavard, de Vrij, Dumfries, Zielinski, Carlos Augusto, Taremi and Arnautovic.
Inzaghi’s counterpart, Lino Godinho, who represented the suspended head coach Paolo Vanoli, was in no way inferior to him and also sent seven new players onto the field compared to the 2:3 against Lazio: Milinkovic-Savic returned between the posts and replaced Paleari. In addition, Walukiewicz, Maripan, Linetty, Gineitis, Pedersen and Adams started in place of Vojvoda, Masina, Tameze, Ilic, Sosa and Sanabria.
Maripan flies – Thuram nods twice
From the start, the spectators at San Siro saw a dominant Inter team that immediately gained a lot of possession. Nevertheless, the first opportunity went to the guests: Ricci tested Sommer from a distance, but was unable to overcome the Swiss (14th). Shortly afterwards, Torino defender Maripan did his team a disservice: the Chilean came clearly too late against Thuram and caught the Frenchman in the ankle with his studs first – the logical consequence according to VAR consideration was the sending off (20th).
Inter quickly took advantage of their numerical superiority; just five minutes after the red card, Thuram headed the Nerazzuri into the front (25′). And the attacker’s header strength remained the dominant theme, with the former Gladbach striker scoring a brace in the same way just ten minutes later (35′).
Zapata scores the next goal – Thuram for the third
However, the guests were not at a loss for an answer: the celebrations for Thuram’s second goal had not yet subsided when Zapata remained stable in the home team’s penalty area and left Sommer no chance to defend with a powerful shot from close range and suddenly the score was only 2 :1 (36th). Visibly anxious to restore the old distance, the active Dimarco worked his way into the penalty area again in the 41st minute of the game, but a brilliant defense from Milinkovic-Savic, who had no chance up to that point, meant that the score went into the locker room with a score of 2-1.
After a rather quiet start to the second half compared to the first half, the home team once again tried to restore their two-goal lead. A cross from substitute Pavard Lautaro found Martinez, who put his header next to the goal (56′). A little later, goalgetter Thuram’s hour came for the third time: Again a header from Lautaro Martinez was the starting point, as a result of which the Frenchman put the rebound into the net for his third goal (60th).
Zapata has to go out injured – Vlasic scores from the spot
Inter didn’t let up after the third goal, even though they conserved their energy afterwards. Triple goalscorer Thuram also called it a day shortly after his goal and was replaced by Taremi (68th). The Nerazzuri still created further opportunities, with Bastoni narrowly missing out on a corner to make it 4-1 (75′).
Substitute Taremi also tried again in the 82nd minute, but was denied by Milinkovic-Savic from a tight angle. Shortly afterwards, on top of all the misfortune for the guests, there was also more bad luck: While trying to run for a long ball, Zapata accidentally stepped onto the San Siro lawn and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher due to a leg injury (82′). Suddenly the luck seemed to change because Masina was fouled by Calhanoglu in the penalty area – Vlasic put the penalty into the net to make it 2-3 (86th).
Inter played down the six minutes of added time with great confidence and Taremi almost made it 4-2. However, Milinkovic-Savic prevented that with a strong save (90th + 4). And because Pavard saved from the incoming Vlasic with a tackle shortly before stoppage time expired, the Nerazzuri ended up with a narrow 3-2 win against a bravely fighting Torino. The international break is now coming up for both teams, after which Inter will face Roma on October 20th (8:45 p.m.). FC Torino meets Cagliari Calcio a few hours earlier (6 p.m.).
