Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez rekindled their prolific partnership in front of a packed San Siro, much to the delight of the Inter Milan faithful.
The Argentine Martinez had been wasteful at the start of their Saturday night encounter with Spezia, but when his strike partner cushioned the ball in his path in the 35th minute, he hit it with such force that it nestled into the corner despite goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski’s best attempts. The infamous “LuLa” had returned, and the Nerazzurri were already looking much sharper in front of the opposition goal.
Turkey international Hakan Calhanoglu, whom Inter stole last season from rivals AC Milan fearing that Christian Eriksen may not play again, scored after the interval to put the home side in cruise control. Lukaku tried his best to get a shot away, as did the PSG-linked Milan Skriniar, but when the ball fell to Calhanoglu, he put his boot through it, and Dragowski, once again, was left grasping at thin air.
Inter now boast the attacking prowess of Lukaku, Martinez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Edin Dzeko, and Joaquin Correa. The latter pair combined to deadly effect in the 82nd minute, scoring the third in a 3-0 win. Dzeko, sent through on goal, rounded the goalkeeper before squaring the ball to Correa, who kept his composure despite multiple bodies on the line to score.
Like Inter, Sassuolo once boasted a deadly attack composed of Gianluca Scamacca, Giacomo Raspadori, and Domenico Berardi. Scamacca left for West Ham earlier in the window, and Raspadori completed a move to Napoli days before Sassuolo’s encounter with the newly-promoted Lecce, leaving Berardi behind to pick up the slack.
But, the Neroverdi talisman did not disappoint. As the ball looped into his path in the 39th minute following a clearance from a corner, Berardi whipped his boot at it, catching it sweetly on the volley and beating the opposition goalkeeper with expert precision – his strike a contender for the goal of the round. Sassuolo held on to the points, their first of the season.
