Inter finally wore Cagliari down with some devastating set plays and Lautaro Martinez ended his Serie A goal drought after almost two months for a comfortable 3-0 victory.
The Nerazzurri were gearing up for the Supercoppa Italiana on January 2, but also needed to keep up with Serie A leaders Atalanta. Stefan de Vrij returned to the starting XI after a knee issue, but Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard were still out of action. The Sardinians lost three on the bounce, bringing back Yerry Mina, but still missing Zito Luvumbo.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
It took under three minutes for a huge chance, as Lautaro Martinez flicked up the ball on the edge of the box, Marcus Thuram controlled with his thigh and thumped the volley, forcing Simone Scuffet to get down for a tough save.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ballooned over after a defensive error, then Scuffet made a desperate save on Denzel Dumfries after a possibly incorrect offside call on Mkhitaryan.
Michel Adopo’s long-range strike took a deflection off Hakan Calhanoglu to push it just past the top corner, but Inter wasted an extraordinary opportunity to take the lead on 28 minutes.
Calhanoglu whipped a ball to the back post where Lautaro Martinez went into the diving header, somehow managing to turn it away from goal rather than in from a yard.
Yann Bisseck twice had to make a crucial interception to stop Roberto Piccoli tapping in crosses from six yards, while Scuffet parried a Nicolò Barella half-volley from the D.
Another Barella effort was charged down after the restart, but Inter finally broke the deadlock when a free kick was cleared as far as Barella, his cross found Alessandro Bastoni at the far post for a header that was perhaps meant to be an assist, instead looping directly into the top corner from the tightest of angles.
Lautaro Martinez was still without a Serie A goal in almost two months and his angled drive skimmed the far post moments later.
Razvan Marin came off the bench and immediately threaded a wonderful pass for Piccoli, but Yann Sommer sprinted out and made a decisive save pushing it off the striker’s feet.
Lautaro Martinez finally broke his goal drought for the first time since November 3, sliding in at the back post to meet another Barella cross after the corner was yet again not cleared effectively.
Cagliari were struggling with corners throughout and were punished again, as Mateusz Wieteska foolishly jumped with an arm over his head to slap the set play off the head of De Vrij, allowing Calhanoglu to convert the penalty.
Sommer kept the clean sheet intact by parrying Mattia Felici’s effort at the near post.
Cagliari 0-3 Inter
Bastoni 53 (I), Lautaro Martinez 71 (I), Calhanoglu pen 78 (I)
