ROME: Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi praised his players for standing up to hosts Lazio in a challenging opening half hour on Monday before turning the performance into one of club’s most dominant in Serie A.

Lazio showed greater determination at the start but the defending champions grew into the game and stormed to a 6-0 win, scoring quick-fire goals either side of halftime in a superb display that silenced the Stadio Olimpico.

Inter delivered a masterclass to send a message to the rest of the league, with Hakan Calhanoglu breaking the deadlock with a 41st-minute penalty and Federico Dimarco making it 2-0 at the break with a volley.

Nicolo Barella slotted home for 3-0 six minutes after the restart before Denzel Dumfries netted two minutes later and Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram completed the rout late on.

“In the first 25 minutes we were good at keeping our distance with a Lazio team that played well technically,” Inzaghi told a press conference.

“We then too grew a lot technically, we managed to score two goals and the third at the start of the second half, closing out a game against a team of absolute value penalised by absences and injuries. We had some players out too but I’m happy.”

Lazio were without suspended forward Valentin Castellanos as well as injured defender Alessio Romagnoli and midfielder Matias Vecino, while Inter were missing defenders Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard.

“We were playing against a team that won 16 out of [their previous] 22 games [in all competitions], and when they lost they didn’t deserve it,” Inzaghi added. “We needed a game of great pace and determination, and we did it because the Italian championship always puts so many pitfalls in front of you.”

Inter remain third with 34 points from 15 matches and trail leaders Atalanta by three points with a game in hand. Lazio, who beat second-placed Napoli last time out, suffered a second league loss in three games and sit fifth on 31 from 16 matches.

Lazio were the best side in the opening 30 minutes although Inter defender Stefan de Vrij thought he had opened the scoring after a rebound only to see his effort ruled out for offside.

However, Inter were awarded a penalty minutes later after a lengthy VAR review showed defender Samuel Gigot stopped the ball with his arm from Dumfries initial attempt in the same move.

Calhanoglu converted to give the visitors the lead and Inter grew in confidence, with Dimarco firing inside the far post to quickly double their advantage.

Lazio, who are top of the Europa League table, continued to look shell-shocked after the break and Barella increased Inter’s lead with a powerful shot that went just under the bar, leaving Lazio keeper Ivan Provedel with no chance.

Inter, who on Tuesday suffered a last-gasp 1-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, were soon 4-0 up through Dumfries, who netted with a towering header from a delightful cross by Alessandro Bastoni.

Substitute Carlos Augusto then become the third Inter wing-back to score of the evening in the 77th minute when he expertly controlled Dimarco’s pass to spin Adam Marusic and calmly slot home the fifth.

Thuram’s brilliant individual strike wasn’t just a slap in the face for Lazio, it also made Inter Serie A’s top scorers ahead of Atalanta and emphatically showed that they won’t give up their title easily.

“I’m sorry for our supporters and I take responsibility for the defeat. We played well for the first 40 minutes but then collapsed, we fell apart” said Lazio coach Marco Baroni. “We did things that you just can’t do against a team like Inter and that means I didn’t do a good enough job.”

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2024