Inter Milan bounced back from midweek Champions League disappointment on Saturday with a 6-1 hammering of Bologna which moved the reigning champions top of Serie A.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were sucker-punched in the last minute by Real Madrid in Wednesday’s single-goal defeat but made no mistake this time at the San Siro.
They are a point ahead of Roma, AC Milan, Napoli and Fiorentina following a thumping win which came thanks to goals from Lautaro Martinez, Milan Skriniar, Nicolo Barella, and Matias Vecino and a brace from Edin Dzeko.
Bologna sit seventh on seven points after their first defeat of the season.
Academy product Federico Dimarco laid on two of those goals as Inter ran riot in from of their delighted home fans on a beautiful night in Milan.
On the other flank Inzaghi will also be happy with Denzel Dumfries making an almost instant impact on his first Inter start since signing from PSV Eindhoven last month, replacing Achraf Hakimi who moved to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Netherlands wing-back, who scored twice at Euro 2020 and was a highlight for the disappointing Dutch, laid on Martinez’s opener and caused havoc down the right flank throughout the match.
Just five minutes had passed when he collected Matis Vecino’s pass while bursting down the right before rolling an inviting low cross from which Argentina forward Martinez could not miss.
Bologna’s heads did not drop at going a goal down so quickly and were unlucky to not level when Roberto Soriano’s shot was well-saved by Samir Handanovic before Nicola Sansone flashed a volley wide.
Ominous Inter
However Inter began to dominate almost immediately after Edin Dzeko replaced injured Joaquin Correa in the 29th minute, with Skriniar heading home the second from Federico Dimarco’s corner on the half-hour and Barella making it three four minutes later following another charge and low cross from Dumfries.
Dumfries was in the thick of it again five minutes after the break when yet another of his low passes from the right flank led to Martinez rattling the crossbar with a powerful strike.
However a comfortable win turned into a rout once Vecino tapped home from Dimarco’s low cross which evaded Dzeko and Dumfries in the 59th minute.
Four minutes later Dzeko did get his reward for an impressive display in the 63rd minute when he collected a Marcel Brozovic pass, which was neatly dummied by Lautaro Martinez, before poking home the fifth.
And the Bosnia striker bagged his third goal since moving to Inter from Roma in the summer five minutes later, roofing a powerful finish past Lukasz Skorupski.
Arthur Theate pulled one back with a diving header four minutes from the end but it didn’t take the shine off an ominous performance from the Nerazzurri.
Earlier Fiorentina continued their strong start to the season on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Genoa which briefly moved them level with Serie A’s leading teams.
Riccardo Saponara’s beautifully struck opener on the hour and a Giacomo Bonaventura goal a minute from the end were enough for Vincenzo Italiano’s fifth-placed team to run out winners for the third match in a row.
Genoa, who pulled one back from the spot deep in stoppage time through Domenico Criscito, sit 14th with three points after their third defeat of the season.
