MILAN: A delighted Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi praised his team after a commanding 4-0 win over Atalanta on Friday to move provisionally top of Serie A, with striker Marcus Thuram’s double the highlight.

The reigning Italian champions dominated throughout at San Siro where an own goal from Berat Djimsiti and stunning Nicolo Barella volley earned them a half-time lead. A brace from Thuram after the break sealed the win.

“Thuram is starting to get more experience in Serie A and is building on last season,” Inzaghi said referring to the French international who joined Inter last summer. “It all starts from his mentality and his hunger, he returned to the training ground early from vacation because he knew that we needed him.”

The Italian coach said all his strikers are in good form, despite last season’s top scorer Lautaro Martinez, coming off injury, new signing Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic failing to score as the season gets underway.

“The forwards are doing well, Lautaro too. Taremi and Arnautovic came in well. We must always keep the bar high and they all did that,” Inzaghi said.

After a sloppy start to the season with a 2-2 draw at Genoa, Inter clinched a second home win having also beaten Lecce 2-0 last week, as they bid to retain their crown after a quiet transfer window.

“We must always keep the level very high. I know repeating the title will be very difficult, but we have to work every day for things to go well,” Inzaghi added. “Our rivals have strengthened themselves with huge signings. It will be a very exciting tournament. I don’t want to point out who will be at the top, but like us they will try to aspire to the maximum.”

Inter opened the scoring just three minutes in when Thuram’s low cross deflected off Atalanta’s Djimsiti into his own net, before Barella smashed home a volley from the edge of the box seven minutes later.

Thuram scored twice in similar fashion after the break, taking advantage of loose balls from the visitors’ poor defence to fire home from close range in the 47th and 56th minutes and seal the rout.

Federico Dimarco also had a close-range finish ruled out for a tight offside as Atalanta wilted in the face of Inter’s attacking onslaught.

Friday’s display will be a worry for Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, whose team came into the season with high hopes after winning the Europa League last season, their first major trophy since 1963.

Gasperini was missing a host of players and had to deal with Teun Koopmeiners — who eventually signed for Juventus on Wednesday — and Ademola Lookman agitate for moves away from Bergamo.

“The first 10 minutes had a big impact on the morale of the team... I think our season will truly start after the international break,” said Gasperini.

“Our new players have all arrived in recent weeks so the team still needs to be built.”

Torino are level with Inter on seven points after Saul Coco’s looping header in the 86th minute secured a dramatic 1-0 win at Venezia.

Juventus will retake top spot from Inter if they maintain their perfect start to the campaign by beating Roma on Sunday night.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024