Serie A | Inter 3-0 Cagliari: Thuram and Barella edge closer to glory
Marcus Thuram, Nicolò Barella and Piotr Zielinski eventually broke Cagliari down for a 3-0 victory that takes Inter ever closer to the Scudetto, as Francesco Pio Esposito won the battle of the brothers.
The Nerazzurri were fired up after the thrilling 4-3 win at Como put them nine points clear at the top of the table, but also had to prepare for Tuesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against the same opponents. Lautaro Martinez, Alessandro Bastoni and Yann Bisseck were out injured, with Petar Sucic suspended, and some squad rotation.
The Sardinians ended a run of five straight defeats by beating Cremonese to break clear of the relegation zone, but Luca Mazzitelli, Leonardo Pavoletti, Riyad Idrissi and Mattia Felici didn’t make the trip. It was a special moment as brothers Francesco Pio and Sebastiano Esposito faced off.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
It was an aggressive start from Cagliari, as Sebastiano Esposito’s deflected effort forced a fingertip save from Josep Martinez, then Marco Palestra blasted over.
Francesco Pio Esposito completed a give and go with Marcus Thuram, but both he and Federico Dimarco saw attempted tap-ins denied by defensive blocks.
Carlos Augusto’s strike was deflected inches wide from the edge of the area, while Pio Esposito stung Caprile’s gloves at the near post after controlling Nicolò Barella’s pass.
Inter finally broke the deadlock after the restart, as Dimarco rolled across from the left, bending the pass inwards so that Thuram just had to cushion it over the line at the back post.
The second goal arrived soon after, as while Thuram’s attempt was charged down, Barella smashed in the rebound from just inside the area. He refused to celebrate against his hometown club, but cracked a smile when Thuram insisted on giving the midfielder a piggy-back ride.
Cagliari threatened too, as Manuel Akanji needed a desperate interception to stop Mendy meeting the Palestra cross after the offside trap failed.
Denzel Dumfries met the Ange-Yoan Bonny cross late on, but couldn’t keep his header down.
Inter added a third in stoppages, as Dumfries knocked down a ball on the edge of the area for Piotr Zielinski to hit a first-time right-foot screamer into the top corner.
Inter 3-0 Cagliari
Thuram 53 (I), Barella 56 (I), Zielinski 92 (I)
Player statistic
| 23' | Sebastiano Esposito | |||
| 25' |  |
Gennaro Borrelli |
| Marcus Thuram (Assist: Federico Dimarco) |
52' | |||
| Nicolò Barella | 56' | |||
| Piotr Zielinski |  |
90+2' |
