Primavera 1 TIM, Inter 6 - 1 Empoli

MILAN – Armando Madonna’s Inter side were rampant on matchday 8 of the Primavera 1 TIM season as they beat Empoli 6-1. The Nerazzurri’s second-half performance was particularly impressive as they scored five goals and completely dominated play, thus allowing them to secure three important points both in terms of the team’s morale and Inter’s league position. Adorante and Merola hit a hat-trick and double respectively, while Salcedo also got on the scoresheet to decide the game in the Nerazzurri’s favour. In the end, Adam’s strike for Empoli only brought temporary parity.

Inter approached the match in a determined way and managed to keep hold of the ball well, thus forcing Empoli to play on the backfoot. Although Inter did have a slight scare when Adam’s shot went just wide for Empoli, the Nerazzurri took the lead as Andrea Adorante scored his fifth of the season after Schirò had played him in with an excellent ball. Zauli’s team, however, were quick to react: Adam came in from the right and found the back of the net with an excellent left-footed strike. Adorante then went close twice as he headed over and then couldn’t quite manage to convert from a scramble in the box after 20 and 25 minutes respectively. Schirò then hit the bar from close range as Inter looked to retake the lead. In the final stages of the first half, Dekic had to intervene twice to stop Inter from going behind, before Adorante went close to making it 2-1 with a header as the first half drew to a close.

Madonna made three changes at the break as he brought on Van Den Eynden, Roric and Merola for Nolan, Pompetti and Persyn. It was the shake-up that Inter needed as Adorante and Salcedo scored seven and nine minutes into the second half respectively. The former converted Merola’s ball into the box, before the latter beat Saro with a right-footed strike. In the space of two minutes, Armando Madonna’s side had really asserted themselves in a game that up to that point had been difficult. Inter would go on to dominate the rest of the match and made it 5-1 with goals from Merola, who got on the end of Zappa’s ball for Inter’s fourth goal, and Adorante, who managed to get the final touch and his hat-trick after Schirò had looked to score with a left-footed shot from inside the box. Inter didn’t let up as Adorante just missed out on getting his fourth goal as he hit the bar. Merola did make it six, however, as he scored from a free kick to finish off the scoring for the home team. The match thus finished Inter 6-1 Empoli.

INTER 6-1 EMPOLIGoalscorers: 9', 52’ and 68' Adorante, 16' Adam, 54' Salcedo, 64’ and 90’ Merola.

INTER: 1 Dekic; 2 Zappa, 4 Nolan (46’ Van Den Eynden), 6 Rizzo, 3 Colombini; 5 Pompetti (46’ Roric), 10 Schirò; 7 Persyn (46’ Merola), 8 Gavioli, 11 Salcedo (72’ Burgio 19); 9 Adorante (86’ Vergani 23)Substitutes: 12 Pozzer, 21 Tononi, 13 Corrado, 16 Grassini, 17 Ballabio, 18 Demirovic, 20 Mulattieri, Coach: Armando Madonna

EMPOLI: 1 Saro, 2 Donati (76’ Matteucci 15), 3 Ricchi, 4 Belardinelli, 5 Canestrelli, 6 Becagli, 7 Bozhamaj (76’ Bertolini 19), 8 Perretta (60’ Balde 18), 9 Adam, 10 Zelenkovs, 11 RicciSubstitutes: 12 De Carlo, 13 Lattanzi, 14 Gianneschi, 15 Matteucci, 16 Viligiardi, 17 Montaperto, 20 MatteoniCoach: Lamberto Zauli

Added time: 2' - 4'

Bookings: Ricchi (24'), Salcedo (35'), 

Referee: PasciutiAssistants: Vono and Perrelli