Inter hit four past Arsenal in the Youth League

Effective, ruthless and spectacular: Inter continued their perfect Youth League record this afternoon by beating Arsenal 4-1 at the KONAMI Youth Development Centre. The Nerazzurri, who have scored 15 goals so far (more than any other side), remain top of the table with twelve points to their name.

Inter got off to a perfect start as De Pieri opened the scoring in the seventh minute - his second goal in the Youth League this season after his finish against Crvena Zvezda - after good combination play by Topalovic and Cocchi. In the 23rd minute, Romano’s path to goal was blocked by Heaven as the Nerazzurri continued to push.

The Gunners started to grow into the game and threatened on the 28-minute mark through Annous, but Re Cecconi got in the way of his effort. After an opportunity for Dowman, the Nerazzurri struck again in the 40th minute: Spinaccè found the net with a left-footed attempt from a seemingly impossible angle down the left. Zanchetta’s side, who had been solid and ruthless, thus went into the break two to the good.

After the restart, Martin kept out a Maye header from a corner; then, on the follow-up Nichols’ last-ditch intervention thwarted Zanchetta. In the 59th minute, Arsenal were reduced to ten men when Kacurri received a second yellow card for a foul on De Pieri.

The newly introduced Pinotti added a third after 69 minutes with a brilliant right-footed effort from the edge of the box that kissed the frame of the goal on its way in. The Nerazzurri were flying, but the Gunners didn’t give up and pulled one back through Kamara, also on as a substitute. Inter then almost scored a fourth through Zarate, whose left-footed strike from distance hit the bar.

Inter continued to play fluid football and extended their advantage in stoppage time as Matteo Lavelli fired low into the corner from the edge of the area. The referee blew the full-time whistle, and Coach Zanchetta’s side now have four wins from four in Europe.

INTER 4-1 ARSENAL Goalscorers: 7' De Pieri (I), 41' Spinaccè (I), 69' Pinotti (I), 73' Kamara (A), 93' Lavelli (I)

INTER (4-3-3): 1 Zamarian; 2 Della Mora, 5 Re Cecconi, 6 Maye (15 Alexiou 70'), 3 Cocchi; 7 Berenbruch, 4 Zanchetta (18 Zarate 70'), 8 Topalovic (16 Venturini 77'); 11 Romano, 9 Spinaccè (19 Lavelli 70'), 10 De Pieri (20 Pinotti 62'). Substitutes: 12 Taho, 13 Kangasniemi, 14 Motta, 17 Zouin. Head Coach: Andrea Zanchetta.

ARSENAL (4-3-3): 54 Martin; 98 Salmon (86 Julienne 46'), 47 Kacurri, 76 Heaven, 50 Nichols; 99 Dowman, 63 Rosiak, 39 Dudziak; 46 Kabia (75 Copley 74'), 72 Casey (48 Kamara 46'), 82 Annous (74 Clarke 63') Substitutes: 92 Porter, 42 Ferdinand, 43 Forde, 77 Ismail, 81 Lannin-Sweet. Head Coach: Max Porter Booked: Romano (I), Nichols (I), Cocchi (I) Sent off: 59' Kacurri (A) for second bookable offence Stoppage time: 1', 7' Referee: Shona Shukrula Assistants: Stefan De Groot, Nils Van Kampen Fourth official: Antonio Rapuano