Inter warm up for Atletico clash with thumping win over Salernitana
>> MILAN: Inter Milan stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to 10 points on Friday after cruising past sorry Salernitana 4-0 ahead of their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid.
Simone Inzaghi looks increasingly likely to claim the first league title of his coaching career with a rampant Inter team who made short work of rock-bottom Salernitana.
Star strike partnership Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez set Inter on their way with two goals in the space of two first-half minutes, before Denzel Dumfries tapped home the third five minutes before the break and Marko Arnautovic completed the scoring late on.
It was yet another show of force from Inter Milan, who will host La Liga giants Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday night.
“It’s a great feeling because the team is playing at a really high level... I’m really pleased with that,” said Inter Milan captain Martinez to DAZN.
Salernitana were blown away in their first match under Inzaghi’s former Lazio teammate Fabio Liverani who replaced the elder Inzaghi brother Filippo earlier this week.
“It’s wasn’t really a playable match tonight, even though we did everything we could to make it easier for them,” said Liverani to DAZN.
“I was aware that we have serious problems in terms of tactics and technique but not regarding their hunger and desire to get out of the situation they find themselves in.”
By the time Thuram swept Inter ahead from Carlos Augusto’s cross in the 17th minute the France forward and Nicolo Barella had both hit the woodwork.
And when Martinez took his Serie A tally for the season to 20 shortly afterwards, evading Jerome Boateng before curling home a lovely finish, the match was as good as done with less than 20 minutes gone.
Salernitana didn’t have single shot on target as Inter hemmed them in from the first whistle, the manner of victory so comprehensive that Inzaghi had the luxury of substituting his star players with half an hour remaining.
And the night was complete when Arnautovic, who has struggled since signing for Inter in the summer, tapped in Dumfries’ deflected low cross in the final minute.