Cagliari 0-1 Inter: Calhanoglu strikes again to extend champions' perfect start

Hakan Calhanoglu continued his strong scoring start to the Serie A season as he guided Inter to a 1-0 victory over Cagliari at Unipol Domus.

Inter made it two wins from two to begin their Scudetto defence, with Calhanoglu's ninth-minute strike enough to get another three points on the board.

Inter made a strong start, and Lautaro Martinez had already sent a header off-target before Calhanoglu got the breakthrough.

Nicolo Barella cut inside from the right to square it to the Turkiye international, who swept his first-time finish through the crowd and into the net.

Barella and Federico Dimarco both forced Elia Caprile into sharp reflex saves shortly after, before the former's quickly taken strike cleared the goalkeeper, with Juan Rodriguez tracking back to clear off the line.

Lautaro Martinez continued to offer a threat without hitting the target, while Francesco Pio Esposito also tested Caprile on the stroke of half-time.

The Cagliari goalkeeper continued to keep the hosts in the game, denying Pio Esposito and Lautaro Martinez with good saves to give his team the chance to find an equaliser.

Cagliari did attempt to snatch a point, but Adam Obert and Gennaro Borrelli failed to test Josep Martinez as they ultimately came up short.

Calhanoglu takes aim as Inter rack up chances

Inter needed a second-half flurry of goals to get over the line against Monza last week, and while they created chances at will against Cagliari, they had to settle for a single goal.

Calhanoglu became just the second Inter midfielder to score in each of his first two seasonal appearances in Serie A in the three-points-per-win era, after Thiago Motta in 2011-12.

Since his arrival at Inter, the 32-year-old (15) is also one of only three players with at least 15 goals scored from outside the box in Europe's top five leagues, alongside Harry Kane (16) and Kylian Mbappe (22).

But there was still some early-season rust on show from Cristian Chivu's side; they had 30 shots overall against Cagliari, with only seven of those on target, though the hosts did owe a lot to Caprile's strong performance. 

Inter accumulated 3.8 expected goals (xG), with 3.01 of that total coming from open play, but Lautaro Martinez is still yet to find his finishing touch after having 10 shots (one on target), as is Pio Espositio (four shots).

Cagliari's struggles against Inter at home went on, though; they have now lost the last seven such meetings in a row, failing to score in the last four, with their late pressure here not enough to end that run.