Lautaro double puts Inter top as Fiorentina fails
Lautaro Martinez scored a second-half brace as Inter Milan moved top of Serie A after easing to a 4-0 victory over Fiorentina to extend its 100 per cent start to the season at San Siro.
The hosts began to press from the off and Denzel Dumfries half-tested returning Fiorentina goalkeeper Oliver Christensen, who missed Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-off with Rapid Vienna, with an easy shot.
Marcus Thuram headed Dumfries’s cross straight at Christensen after 11 minutes as Inter looked for an opener.
Eight minutes later, the home side came close with its first real chance of note as Thuram continued to cause Fiorentina problems but he fired over the crossbar after a nice run.
The summer signing from Borussia Monchengladbach did finally break the deadlock with his first goal for Inter midway through the first half.
Federico Dimarco whipped in a well-timed cross to pick out Thuram, whose powerful header from the centre of the box flashed past Christensen.
The hosts came close to doubling their lead on the half-hour mark and Thuram was again well placed to claim his brace but he could not turn Alessandro Bastoni’s cross home as he fired over.
The Viola were pushing hard for an equaliser as the half started to draw to a close but were yet to really test Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
At the other end, a brilliant Inter free-kick from Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was well kept out by the diving Christensen and Thuram fired another wasted chance over on the stroke of half-time.
Fiorentina looked like it might try its luck early in the second half but was easily thwarted by the Nerazzurri, who proved too strong for their opponents and found their rhythm soon afterwards.
The hosts doubled their lead after a chance where Dumfries struck the post. Martinez went on a run from outside the box and slotted home Thuram’s cross with a great strike straight down the middle.
Inter was given the chance to extend the lead further before the half-hour mark as it was awarded a penalty for a foul by Christensen on Thuram.
Calhanoglu made no mistake to score his first goal of the season as he sent a powerful spot-kick to the keeper’s bottom-left, leaving Christensen diving down to his right.
Inter continued to dominate and put the result beyond doubt with 17 minutes remaining as Martinez tapped the ball home after beating his opponent to substitute Juan Cuadrado’s inch-perfect cross into the box.
Fiorentina could find no reply as the hosts kept their clean-sheet record intact for the season while moving above rival AC Milan at the top of the table.
