Empoli 0-3 Inter: Frattesi double downs 10-man hosts
Inter moved back to within four points of Serie A leaders Napoli with a 3-0 win away at Empoli.
Davide Frattesi scored twice and Lautaro Martinez added a third as Inter eased to a 3-0 win at 10-man Empoli on Wednesday, closing the gap on Serie A leaders Napoli to four points.
Inter, now unbeaten in five league games, remain second in the standings with 21 points, behind Napoli on 25 after their 2-0 win at AC Milan on Tuesday. Empoli remain 11th on 11 points.
Empoli faced an uphill battle when Saba Goglichidze was shown the red card for a studs-up high challenge on Marcus Thuram after half an hour, and Inter made the extra man count in the second half.
Frattesi found the net five minutes after the break and doubled Inter's lead in the 67th minute, before Martinez rounded off the win 11 minutes from time, stretching Empoli's winless run to five games.
The game may have lacked the drama of Inter's rollercoaster 4-4 draw with Juventus on Sunday, but this time Simone Inzaghi's side came away with all three points, against an Empoli side who struggle to score but had conceded even less, until now.
Before Empoli's sending off, Inter did find the net, but Matteo Darmian was guilty of a handball on his way to scoring, and the away side's only other real chance before the break came from a deflected Federico Dimarco free kick which brought a superb save from the keeper.
Inter were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage in the first half, but it all changed once Frattesi got them off the mark.
A cross to the back post was kept in play on the byline by a header from Darmian which fell to Frattesi and his deflected looping shot went in off the far post.
His second came after a backheeled pass from Martinez in the area which Frattesi slotted home, and the killer third goal was down to an awful keeper's error.
Vasquez played a sloppy pass out from the goal which Nicolo Barella gathered and he passed to the unmarked Martinez in the area who made no mistake and fired home to finish off an Empoli who had no response after a brave first half showing.
Data Debrief: Inter register another Empoli shutout
Inter have now kept a clean sheet in their past 10 away games against Empoli in Serie A, extending the record for one club against another in the competition's history.
Frattesi was the star performer for the visitors with his double, making him the highest-scoring Italian midfielder across Europe's top five leagues for club and country this season with six goals to his name.
Inter did well to keep out Empoli, who have failed to score in 10 of their past 15 home games in Serie A - the worst return of any side in the league.