Inter Milan stretch Serie A lead to 10 points with victory over Salernitana

Inter Milan stretched their lead to 10 points at the top of Serie A with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Salernitana at San Siro.

Inter were looking for a sixth consecutive victory and they were well on their way when Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez scored within two minutes of each other before Denzel Dumfries put the hosts out of sight at the break.

A dominant Inter side limited their opponents to just one shot and Marko Arnautovic saw a strike ruled out but he was not to be denied as he added a fourth for Inter with the last kick of the game to continue their 100 per cent start to 2024.

Inter Milan’s attacking intention was clear from the outset and they should have opened the scoring after three minutes when Alessandro Bastoni’s header was parried by Guillermo Ochoa into the path of Thuram but he could only poke onto the post with the goal at his mercy.

Another early chance went begging as Nicolo Barella latched onto a loose ball and fired at goal with Ochoa magnificently tipping over the bar from point-blank range.

It was wave after wave of Inter attack throughout the first 10 minutes and Ochoa once again had to stop Thuram from stabbing in from inside the six-yard box.

Inter finally made their deserved breakthrough in the 17th minute when Carlos Augusto found Thuram inside the box and this time he made no mistake, blasting into the top corner for his 10th league goal of the season.

Inter doubled their lead with a second goal in quick succession and Augusto was yet again the creator when his long throw forward found Martinez who curled in from the edge of the box.

Inter put the game to bed five minutes before the break when Barella’s deflected cross needed to be dealt with by Ochoa but he could only push into the path of Dumfries who bundled home with ease.

Inter started the second period in the same fashion as the first and almost had a fourth right away but Hakan Calhanoglu’s rifled volley was palmed behind by Ochoa.

Salernitana had yet to register a single shot during the first 55 minutes but had an opportunity from a free-kick from 25 yards that Antonio Candreva blasted over the bar.

Ochoa was keeping the score respectable and he rose well to keep out Stefan De Vrij’s header from going in.

Inter thought they had a fourth in the 78th minute when former Stoke and West Ham forward Arnautovic got on the end of a long ball and finished past Ochoa only for the offside flag to cut short celebrations.

However, they did add the cherry to the cake when Arnautovic got on the end of Dumfries’ cross and poked home from inside the area.