Alexis Sanchez scores and sees red for Inter
Alexis Sanchez scored before being sent off in a dramatic first Inter Milan start as his side battled to a 3-1 away win over Sampdoria.
Inter made it six victories from six in Serie A, ensuring it kept the two-point lead over Juventus at the top of the table that it held at the start of the day.
Two goals in the space of 128 first-half seconds from Stefano Sensi and Sanchez had Antonio Conte's men on course for a dominant victory in response to Juve's earlier win over SPAL.
Sanchez received a second yellow for diving early in the second half and there was brief alarm for 10-man Inter when that was followed by a strike from Samp's Jakub Jankto, but Roberto Gagliardini wrapped up the points.
After a scrappy opening 20 minutes, Inter scored two goals in rapid succession.
First, in-form Sensi fired in an effort from 30 yards which struck Sanchez on the back and deflected past Emil Audero in the Sampdoria goal.
Then, on Inter's next attack, another Sensi strike that was hit less cleanly was latched on to by an opportunistic Sanchez, who knew more about this one as he pounced to slot in from inside the six-yard box.
Antonio Candreva's goal from a Sanchez chipped pass was ruled out for offside before Lautaro Martinez fired wide from one good chance and struck another straight at the keeper.
Audero denied Sensi as Inter ended the first half in complete control but the match took a dramatic twist 54 seconds after the restart. When a Martinez shot was saved, Sanchez went down under pressure from Julian Chabot, who appeared to back out of the challenge.
That immediately earned Sanchez a second booking, his first having come just before the break for a foul on Albin Ekdal.
Samp's first shot on target got them back into the match, Jankto collecting a pass from Karol Linetty before turning and finding the bottom corner with an angled left-footed strike, his first league goal for the club.
But just after the hour mark, and six minutes after Jankto's strike, weak goalkeeping from Audero meant Marcelo Brozovic's over-hit pass was eventually parried into the path of Gagliardini to tap in.
It is a huge week for Inter, which is at Camp Nou on Thursday (AEST) for UEFA Champions League business before it meets Juve in the Derby d'Italia at San Siro on 7 October (AEST).
Samp is in desperate need of points when they travel to Hellas Verona next Sunday (AEST).
