Inter 3 - 0 Spezia: the Nerazzurri dominate at San Siro

INTER 3-0 SPEZIA

Goalscorers: 35' Lautaro, 52' Calhanoglu, 82' Correa

INTER (3-5-2): 1 Handanovic; 37 Skriniar, 6 De Vrij, 95 Bastoni; 2 Dumfries, 23 Barella, 77 Brozovic (14 Asllani 85'), 20 Calhanoglu (5 Gagliardini 75'), 32 Dimarco (8 Gosens 68'); 90 Lukaku (9 Dzeko 68'), 10 Lautaro (11 Correa 75'). Substitutes: 21 Cordaz, 24 Onana, 12 Bellanova, 33 D'Ambrosio, 36 Darmian, 42 Agoumé. Coach: Simone Inzaghi. SPEZIA (3-5-1-1): 69 Dragowski; 29 Caldara (15 Hristov 67'), 14 Kiwior, 43 Nikolaou; 11 Gyasi (2 Holm 90'), 6 Bourabia, 7 Sala (44 Strelec 67'), 20 Bastoni (24 Kovalenko 80'), 13 Reca; 33 Agudelo (28 Ellertsson 90'); 18 Nzola. Substitutes: 1 Zoet, 40 Zovko, 8 Ekdal, 17 Podgoreanu, 23 Capradossi, 30 Maldini, 77 Bertola, 89 Balde Sanca. Coach: Luca Gotti.

Added time: 0' - 3'.

Referee: Ghersini. Linesmen: Di Iorio e Raspollini. Fourth Official: Santoro. VAR: Marini. VAR assistant: Guida.

MILAN - Returning. It’s always special. Old tastes combine with new flavours, leading to new stories, emotions, feelings. And 71,212 fans were there to witness Inter’s return, all their hearts beating together. Lecce vs. Inter had become a thing of the past, and it was time to focus on the team’s second opponents of the season, Spezia. The Nerazzurri were back at the Meazza and Lukaku was back in front of the Curva, partnering Lautaro up front. The crowd was boisterous and loud, only fuelling the advances of Inzaghi’s side. Indeed, it was a dominant display from Inter, who played some fantastic football and ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over Spezia to continue their perfect start to the new league season. The goals: Lautaro opened the scoring with a fantastic strike after great link-up play with Romelu. Calhanoglu’s finish was just as precise, with Skriniar having caused havoc in the lead up to the Nerazzurri’s second. And then Correa finished it off following some intelligent play from Dzeko. A great evening, now on to the next one.

Compared to the game against Lecce, Bastoni returned to the side, with Dimarco moving to the left of midfield and Dumfries lining up on the right. The Nerazzurri applied pressure right from the get-go, with the ball being sent out wide, directly towards the team’s forwards and also into the box on a regular basis. Dragowski in the Spezia goal was in inspired form, as was Lautaro, who relentlessly knitted play together, dribbled with the ball and fired shots at goal. He was a constant thorn in Spezia’s side.

Indeed, the biggest chances of the early stages fell El Toro’s way. In the 14th minute, his right-footed effort was turned behind for a corner by Dragowski. On the 32-minute mark, he turned and shot wide from inside the box, while, moments later, Dumfries then failed to keep the ball down following Lukaku’s lovely back-heel flick. Romelu was looking lively, too, constantly laying the ball off to his teammates and creating danger. This is exactly how the opening goal came about as he marked his return to San Siro with an assist. Barella played the ball forward, Big Rom nodded it across for Lautaro, who produced an emphatic finish with his left foot from outside the box.

Having taken the lead, Inter pushed for more, with Spezia struggling to contain Inzaghi’s men. Lautaro recovered possession on numerous occasions in the final third and his teammates benefitted from his hard work. Dumfries came close, as did Lukaku, who struck the bar with a header following Bastoni’s ball into the area. At the very end of the half, Lautaro missed a great chance to net his and Inter’s second.

The fact that Inter were only one goal to the good at the break was the only negative thing that could be said about the first half, especially as Gotti’s side hadn’t threatened Handanovic’s goal once. In the end, the away team finish with two shots to their name, neither of which were on target. Inter had one objective in the second half: to kill off the game and refine their playing patterns and fitness levels in the process. The team’s desire was there for all to see, with Lukaku and Skriniar making a nuisance of themselves in the lead-up to Calhanoglu’s calm finish that made it 2-0. The game was thus all but won in the 52nd minute. The tempo slowed down somewhat as various substitutions were made. Asllani came on for Brozovic, making his competitive Nerazzurri debut in the process. There was still time for a third for Inzaghi’s men: Dzeko rolled the ball across for Correa, who showed great composure to control it and score with a simple finish. It brought a fantastic evening to an end at San Siro, one that was completely dominated by the Nerazzurri colours.

LIVE UPDATES

FULL-TIME: Inter beat Spezia 3-0!

82' GOOOAAALLLL! 3-0! Dzeko rolls it across for Correa, who makes no mistake!

72' Spezia have their first chance of the game: Strelec slips as he tries to shoot and the ball ends up out of play for a goal-kick.

64' The tempo of the match has now dropped, with Inter fully in control.

52' GOOOAAAALLLLL! Calhanoglu makes it two, confidently dispatching with his right foot!

46' The second half begins. No changes at the break.

LIVE UPDATES

HALF-TIME Inter 1-0 Spezia Inter have dominated proceedings so far and will feel they should be further in front.

44' Another Inter chance: Lautaro volleys over from close range!

43' Lukaku hits the bar with his header!

41' Dragowski sticks out a foot to deny Dumfries!

35' GOOOAAAALLLL! A brilliant finish from Lautaro. 1-0 to Inter!

33' Lautaro turns and shoots wide from inside the box. Moments later, Dumfries fails to keep the ball down following a lovely flick from Lukaku.

26' The game has calmed down after the Nerazzurri's bright start, with Spezia looking to push further up the pitch.

14' Lautaro lets fly with his right foot but Dragowski is there to make the stop!

9' Dumfries' header from Calhanoglu's free-kick is kept out by Dragowski!

1' Away we go in front of over 70,000 fans at San Siro! Lukaku returns to San Siro for the first time since May 2021.