Inter overcame Monza at the U-Power Stadium in a thumping 5-1 victory on Saturday evening.
Inter’s first match of the second part of the 2023-2024 Serie A season began with a trip to Monza. Monza has proven to be a tricky opponent as of late, even more meaningful to Inter with several former players at the club and in the starting lineup. The Nerazzurri were determined to get the win in order to remain ahead of Juventus in a tight Scudetto race and to put the squad in good spirits ahead of a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa Italiana next week.
Inter lined up as follows (3-5-2): Sommer; Pavard, de Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Çalhanoğlu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro.
Monza lined up as follows (3-4-2-1): Sorrentino; D’Ambrosio, Gagliardini, Caldirola; Ciurria, Bondo, Pessina, Pereira; Colpani, V. Carboni; Mota.
In the 10th minute, Benjamin Pavard put a lovely cross in, to which Lautaro got a head. Initially, the forward thought it was a corner kick, but VAR got a closer look and determined that the ball had deflected off the hand of ex-Inter player Roberto Gagliardini. Hakan Çalhanoğlu calmly slotted home to open the score for the visitors.
Mere minutes later, a brilliant team move began in Inter’s half and found Federico Dimarco on the left flank. His final ball met the foot of Lautaro Martínez inside Monza’s 6-yard box to double the lead after just 14 minutes of play.
In the 30th minute, Monza had a free-kick opportunity in Inter’s defensive third. Andrea Colpani’s cross was nodded on by Monza defender, Luca Caldirola and Matteo Pessina was open at the back-post for an easy tap-in. Fortunately, VAR determined that Pessina was offside (just!), and the goal was called off.
Shortly into the second half, Inter was able to break on the counter-attack again. Federico Dimarco cleared the ball where Henrikh Mkhitaryan was open in Monza’s half. The Armenian drilled the ball into the box, Marcus Thuram pulled off a slick backheel-layoff to Hakan Çalhanoğlu crashing in and smashed it into the back of the net.
In the 67th minute, Matteo Darmian made a rash tackle on Monza forward Dany Mota in the Inter box and the referee blew for a penalty. Matteo Pessina, who had already had a goal disallowed, sent Yann Sommer the wrong way and tightened the lead to just two goals.
In the 83rd minute, substitute Davide Frattesi received the ball in Monza’s box and was taken out- the referee blew for another penalty. Lautaro Martínez stepped up and drilled the ball into the middle of the net, marking his 18th goal in 18 Serie A appearances this season.
Minutes later, Inter was on the front foot again as Henrikh Mkhitaryan intercepted a pass and was able to spark a counter. He found Marcus Thuram who chopped inside, dropping Monza defender Luca Caldirola in the process, and with such composure, found the near-post. Inter’s fifth goal of the match!
Here are our Inter player ratings following a dominant win!
Player Ratings
Yann Sommer – 6.5
Made good saves. Not much he could do about the penalty.
Benjamin Pavard – 6.5
Shows his passion every chance he gets. Got bandaged up after a head clash, won a header the very next play. A joy to watch defend.
Stefan de Vrij – 7
Had a flawless first half, completing 100% of his passes and winning 100% of his tackles. Carried this form into the second half to close out an incredible performance.
Alessandro Bastoni – 6.5
Had lots of space and time to attack today and did just that. Always making runs into the final third, sending balls in and creating chances.
Matteo Darmian – 5.5
Solid defensively but gave away a silly penalty. Also gave away a penalty against Hellas Verona, making it back-to-back matches.
Nicolò Barella – 5.5
Very quiet match for the Italian international today.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu – 8.5
Continued his incredible penalty record, scoring his 7th penalty and later his 9th goal of the Serie A season.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 7.5
Timeless performance. Did everything today, from defensive contributions, to interceptions, to leading counter-attacks and got an assist.
Federico Dimarco – 6.5
Played essentially as a winger today, with ample time and space to operate mostly in Monza’s half. Got an assist in a great team goal.
Marcus Thuram – 8
It was evident in the first half that a goal contribution was coming. Had many chances and it finally came in the second half, with a brilliant assist and somehow an even better goal in the closing minutes of the match.
Lautaro Martínez (C) – 9
Wow. 18 goals in 18 Serie A appearances this season- 20 goal contributions including 2 assists. Always working hard, always encouraging his teammates. A true captain’s performance.
Substitutes
Davide Frattesi – 6.5
Not many touches, as many Inter fans have noticed, but such a smart player. Did extremely well to win a penalty.
Kristjan Asllani – 6
Provided defensive security and did well.
Francesco Acerbi – 6
Not required to do much work today as the game was practically over when he entered the pitch but did well when needed.
Carlos Augusto – 5
Not very involved.
Yann Bisseck – N/A
Entered in the final minutes of the match, unable to rate his performance.
Some fairly remarkable stats: Lautaro is the league scoring leader, as everyone knows, but with 18 goals he has exactly twice as many as his nearest competition. Tied for second place in the scoring table: Calhanoglu, with 9. Also on the table just behind him: Thuram, with 8.
Also, Thuram is the league’s assist leader, with 7. Just behind him; Mkhitayran, with 6.
I’ve seen better Inter squads before, but I can’t remember one that was so thoroughly dominant in terms of attacking stats.
(Just because I got curious: the last time Inter had three different players score double-digits in a Serie A season was 2006/07. Ibra, Crespo, and temporary goal-machine Marco Materazzi.)
I think it’s going to be very unlikely that we see a season like this again for a while, so I for one am going to enjoy it to the fullest!
It’s also crazy that these attacking stats haven’t come at the cost of a leaky defense, which is usually the case. Apart from our back 3, who are very good, I think the midfielders also have a huge part to play in this. Barella hasn’t been killing the ratings this season: he does indeed have the fewest goals and assists since he arrived here. But I think his all round game has continued to improve, and I see him put in the dirty work to win the ball back, shield it from opponents, and spread it around to his teammates. Calhanoglu hasn’t been protecting the defense in a vacuum, good as he has been.
Totally agree re: Barella. He’s been doing a wildly disproportionate amount of the team’s dirty work this season, and that stuff rarely appears on the stat sheets or the highlight reels. Obviously we all want him to be the “new Stankovic,” and he hasn’t really been that too often this season. But dammit, we need someone who can run his ass off, harass opponents, keep hold of the ball, and scream bloody murder about every meaningless throw-in decision at the halfway line. He contributes hugely to the team.
Anyone else catch Thuram and Birindelli hugging it out after the match? I wonder if they were buddies as kids when their dads both played for the evil empire.
Thoroughly and great rewiew.
Though I have to disagree with the Barella rating. He was all over the place before his substitution. And as can recall he was the first man on the ball driven forward with a couple of goals.
But again, thank you for the service you provide.
Yeah some stats would be useful, e.g. passing accuracy, chances created, etc.