Lukaku's lightning - quick goal and Hakimi's impact: Benevento vs. Inter, all you need to know

Yesterday evening, Inter scored five goals and collected three points in their second league fixture of the season and second ever match at the Stadio Ciro Vigorito. In the previous meeting between the two sides in Benevento on 1 October 2017, exactly three years ago today, the Nerazzurri ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a Brozovic brace. This time around, Inter found the net five times thanks to a Lukaku double and goals from Gagliardini, Hakimi and Lautaro Martinez.

NINE GOALS IN THE FIRST TWO MATCHDAYS: A RECORD 

In the process of picking up six points from their opening two games, Inter have scored nine. Thanks to some great offensive football, the Nerazzurri currently have the best attack in Serie A, ahead of Napoli and Atalanta on eight. Conte’s men have equalled a Club record: only in the 1961/62 season had Inter previously managed to score nine goals in their first two Serie A matches, with the Nerazzurri never having done better.

• Prior to last night, Inter hadn’t scored three goals inside the opening half an hour of a Serie match since their game against Atalanta in March 2017.

• Inter previously had scored four goals in the first half of a Serie A match since they did so against Sampdoria in March 2018

LUKAKU'S GOAL AFTER JUST 28 SECONDS

Kolarov’s ball forward, great combination play between Hakimi and Sanchez, a low cross from the Nerazzurri’s No.2 and Romelu Lukaku’s right-footed finish: Inter needed just 28 seconds to score against Benevento, the quickest goal in the Club’s recent league history. Indeed, it’s the fastest that Inter have scored since Opta started collecting such data (from the 2004/05 season). It was a goal that came from kick-off, with Benevento not even touching the ball prior to it nestling in their net.

The quickest recorded Nerazzurri goal came in Inter 1-0 Cesena in the 1988/89 campaign, when Matteoli found the net after nine seconds.

Lukaku’s goal is the fastest that has been scored in the Italian top flight since February 2019, when Stefan de Vrij scored an own goal in Fiorentina vs. Inter (16 seconds).

HAKIMI AND KHARJA, AN IDENTICAL START

Achraf Hakimi is the second Moroccan player in Inter’s history. His predecessor, Houssine Kharja, was born in France but then became a naturalised Moroccan citizen. Yesterday, Hakimi became the second ever Moroccan to score for Inter after Kharja did so in Bari 0-3 Inter in 2010/11. But that’s not all: Hakimi has provided an assist in both of his first two Serie A appearances in Nerazzurri colours: the last Inter player to achieve this was the aforementioned Houssine Kharja. After joining Inter on loan from Genoa in January 2011, Kharja registered an assist in Inter 3-2 Palermo and did the same in Bari, also getting on the scoresheet in that match. In other words, Hakimi has enjoyed exactly the same start as Kharja did.

Hakimi has thus been involved in three goals in his first two Serie A appearances with Inter: the last Nerazzurri player to do better was Daniel Osvaldo in 2014 (four).

THE FASTEST SERIE A GOAL SINCE 2004/2005

DATEPLAYERTEAMOPPOSITIONExact Time24/02/2019Autogol de VrijFiorentinaInter00:1626/03/2014SansoneSampdoriaSassuolo00:1621/09/2011ZahaviPalermoCagliari00:1623/12/2017FalqueTorinoSPAL00:1717/09/2017Duván ZapataSampdoriaTorino00:1721/09/2018CaputoEmpoliSassuolo00:1826/08/2017PjanicGenoaJuventus00:1806/10/2013MuntariMilanJuventus00:1803/11/2012VidalJuventusInter00:1802/11/2014Di NataleUdineseGenoa00:2228/01/2018PalacioBolognaNapoli00:2405/10/2008LavezziNapoliGenoa00:2526/10/2014HallfredssonVeronaNapoli00:2603/04/2010CassanoSampdoriaChievo00:2730/09/2020LukakuInterBenevento00:28