Against FC Bologna, Inter Milan confidently took back the lead in the table from their city neighbors on matchday 18 of Serie A. Not only did top scorer Lautaro Martinez score in the 3-1 (1-0) win, a homegrown player also made his debut.
Piotr Zielinski scored the opening goal for the Nerazzurri in the 31st minute after the Pole initiated the situation himself. Martinez made it 2-0 with a header just three minutes after half-time before ex-Gladbacher Marcus Thuram (74th) made the preliminary decision. Santiago Castro was able to make it 1:3 for the guests in the 83rd minute, spoiling Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s eighth game of the season without conceding a goal.
Martinez missed his first big chance to take an early lead in the sixth minute when his powerful low shot was denied by Federico Ravaglia, who reacted strongly, in the visitors’ goal. A few minutes later, first Thuram (8th) tried after a great preparatory work by the Argentine, then Nicolo Barella (9th), but both the Frenchman and the Italian were denied by the FC Bologna goalkeeper.
The guests tried again and again with isolated offensive actions, but Rowe’s low shot (27th) into the middle of the goal didn’t pose any major problems for Sommer. Jens Odgaard (35′) had a better chance of equalizing after a deflected Moro cross, but the ball went just past the post. Zielinski did better on the other side, scoring the opening goal after an artistic assist from Martinez – no chance for Ravaglia.
Bologna goalkeeper Ravaglia best game of the guests
After the break, the favored hosts quickly scored the second goal of the game. Federico Dimarco (48th) only missed the Bologna goalkeeper, who parried strongly again, and Martinez converted the subsequent corner in top scorer style. The Argentine broke away from his opponent and headed the ball into the net from close range. Four minutes later, the striker narrowly missed his brace when he hit the crossbar.
The game dragged along a bit until the final phase and the guests didn’t make much of an effort to catch up. On the contrary, Thuram casually increased the score with his shoulder after a corner from Dimarco (74th). In the 83rd minute, promising young hopeful Matteo Lavelli celebrated his Serie A debut and replaced the goalscorer to make it 3-0. But even the 19-year-old couldn’t prevent Castro from scoring to make it 3-1.