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Inter laid siege to the Bologna goal for most of the first half, pouring forward in wave after wave, only to be denied by an outstanding goalkeeper, Federico Ravaglia, whose string of fine saves kept the scoreline intact.

However, six minutes before the break, Inter finally took a deserved lead when Lautaro Martinez, falling under a challenge, managed to slide the ball across to Piotr Zielinski, who struck confidently from just outside the box to find the net.

Three minutes after the restart, Inter doubled its advantage from a corner, as Martinez timed his run perfectly and powered a header into the net.

The onslaught continued minutes later when Martinez met a cross point-blank with the goal gaping, only to crash his effort against the crossbar, drawing a collective gasp from the spectators inside San Siro.

Ravaglia produced a string of saves to keep the deficit from growing but the resistance finally broke in the 74th minute when Marcus Thuram made it three for Inter, his shoulder glancing a corner over the line and the Frenchman looking almost surprised by his goal.

Santiago Castro pulled one back for Bologna seven minutes before stoppage-time, sliding in to score, but Inter remained firmly in control, while Bologna was indebted to Ravaglia for keeping the scoreline respectable.

With this victory, Inter has the lead in the competition with 39 points, one clear of city rival AC Milan and two ahead of Napoli, with the campaign now two matches from the halfway mark.

Martinez said the increasing focus on a tactical plan to stop its poor run against Bologna was pivotal. 

Coming into the game, Inter had won just one of its past five Serie A matches against the Rossoblu, after winning four of the previous five meetings.

"I said before the game that we had prepared a plan, and it worked so well, as we started with a strong press after losing the ball," Martinez said.

"That caused real problems for Bologna. Our midfielders also helped on the second ball, which is how we created the chances for the goals."

With his goal, Martinez recorded his seventh different league season with 10-plus goals. Only Alessandro Altobelli (eight), Giuseppe Meazza and Benito Lorenzi (both nine) have recorded more such campaigns for Inter.

But the skipper was almost unable to feature for the rest of the contest after going down from Torbjorn Heggem's early challenge, with the Bologna defender stepping on Martinez's hand.

"These are three very important points for the team," he added. "My hand hurts, but I push through it and give my all for the team, so I go home happy tonight."

It was Zielinski's strike that got Inter on their way, though. The Poland international found the back of the net for the first time in Serie A since 3 November (AEDT) against Hellas Verona.

Zielinski had been deputised from the bench in the early stages of the season, but his influence on the Nerazzurri has seen him start their past four league matches. 

"I've been in good condition for a while, I am glad that I can give my support to the team," he added.

"It all went well apart from the late goal, we had it largely under control, which was important because we'd had problems with Bologna recently."

Inter assistant Aleksandar Kolarov, who replaced Chivu on post-match duties because he had lost his voice, provided insight into the game plan involving Martinez and Thuram.

"Lautaro is what we have always seen, he is our captain and our leader, who always gives 100% in every single training session, too," Kolarov said.

“We prepared it this way today, trying to push a midfielder up and bring him back a little deeper to create a diamond, therefore isolating Marcus against their defender.

"Lautaro is so good at understanding when and where to move that he finds the right positions, which is how the first goal came about."