Lautaro from outside the box, Lukaku on opening day: all you need to know from Inter vs. Fiorentina

MILAN – The three points picked up against Fiorentina at San Siro are a signal of Inter’s willingness to fight for the title. It was a match with seven goals in total that saw Inter turn it around to start their 2020/21 Serie A campaign on a high note. Let’s take a look back at the game with some numbers, stats and fun facts pertaining to the Nerazzurri’s victory.

LAUTARO MARTINEZ AND GOALS FROM THE LEFT

Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring yesterday evening, as he looks to kick on from a fantastic season last time out - with 21 goals in all competitions - and started 2020/21 with a goal from outside the box and forced Ceccherini’s own goal.

All of Lautaro’s last three goals in Serie A have been scored from outside the penalty area; the last Inter player to score three consecutive long-range goals was Freddy Guarín in 2015. The Argentine has scored four goals from outside the box in this calendar year in all competitions: in Europe’s Top-5 leagues, only Calhanoglu (eight) and Malinovskiy (five) have scored more.

LUKAKU ON OPENING DAY

Inter have scored at least four goals in their opening game of a Serie A campaign in each of the last two season, the first time since 1961 (three consecutive seasons). Romelu Lukaku was on the scoresheet in both of those games; against Lecce on 26 August 2019, he scored his first of 34 goals in the 2019/20 season, and last night against Fiorentina, he opened his account for the current campaign. Between Serie A and the Premier League, the Belgian has scored four goals in his last four opening-day fixtures

HANDANOVIC THE GOALKEEPER WITH THE SIXTH-MOST APPEARANCES

Against Fiorentina, Inter captain Samir Handanovic played his 479th game in Serie A, overtaking Angelo Peruzzi to claim sixth place in the all-time appearance list for goalkeepers in Serie A

WHEN D’AMBROSIO GETS HIS HEAD ON IT

He was quietly decisive last night. Danilo D’Ambrosio put his signature on many decisive goals last season and has already started this campaign with a late winner for the first win of the season. In the last five seasons, only two defenders have scored more headed goals than D’Ambrosio (five) in Serie A: Stefan de Vrij (ten) and Gian Marco Ferrari (six).