Marcus Thuram scored a hat-trick to give Inter a surprisingly difficult victory over Torino, who played with ten men for over an hour and lost Duván Zapata to injury.
The Nerazzurri spared a number of key players after Wednesday’s 4-0 Champions League win against Red Star, but Nicolò Barella and Tajon Buchanan were still injured. Torino went into this match with 11 points, like the reigning champions, and were the leaders until a 3-2 defeat against Lazio. Perr Schuurs, Zanos Savva and Emirhan Ilkhan remained absent, but Vanja Milinkovic-Savić returned from injury. Coach Paolo Vanoli was serving a suspension.
Samuele Ricci forced Yann Sommer to make an impressive intervention after his strong shot from a distance of over 20 meters.
However, Torino were reduced to 10 men after just 20 minutes when Guillermo Alfonso Maripán tackled Marcus Thuram with a tackle, hitting him in the ankle with his studs.
Inter quickly took the lead when, after clearing the ball from a corner kick, Alessandro Bastoni’s cross found the head of Thuram, who directed the ball into the goal by bouncing it off the post.
The second goal was very similar – this time Francesco Acerbi sent a cross from the left, and Thuram headed the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Moments later, Yann Bisseck made a mistake, allowing Duván Zapata to go one-on-one with Sommer and score, giving Torino hope again despite playing short.
Milinković-Savić reacted quickly to stop Dimarco’s shot after playing with Thuram, and Lautaro Martinez narrowly missed the ball, while Hakan Çalhanoğlu sent a long shot just wide of the goal.
As Torino pressed for an equalizer, they were blindsided by a third goal. Bastoni’s cross from the left found the head of Lautaro Martinez, and Milinkovic-Savić deflected the ball straight to Thuram, who completed his hat-trick from close range.
There was more bad news for Torino when Duván Zapata, fighting alone against two Inter defenders, suffered a serious knee injury. The Colombian striker was taken off on a stretcher, visibly devastated, and teammates and opponents tried to console him.
Moments later, Adam Masina touched the ball first in the penalty area and was kicked by Çalhanoğlu, resulting in a penalty kick, which Nikola Vlašić converted into a goal, making the score 3-2. Given that Torino were short from the 20th minute, they caused Inter more problems than anyone expected.
Milinkovic-Savić made a double save after shots by Piotr Zieliński and Mehdi Taremi late in the match.
INTER 3:2 TORINO
Strzelcy: 25′, 35′, 60′ Thuram (I), 36′ Zapata (T), 87′ Vlasic (T) kar.
INTER (3-5-2): 1 Summer; 31 Bisseck (28 Pavard 46′), 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni (6 De Vrij 82′); 36 Darmian (2 Dumfries 68′), 16 Frattesi, 20 Calhanoglu, 22 Mkhitaryan (7 Zielinski 77′), 32 Dimarco; 9 Thuram (99 Taremi 68′), 10 Lautaro.
Pozostali na ławce: 12 Di Gennaro, 13 J. Martinez, 6 De Vrij, 8 Arnautovic, 11 Correa, 21 Asllani, 30 Carlos Augusto, 42 Palacios.
Trener: Simone Inzaghi.
TORINO (3-5-2): 32 Milinkovic-Savic; 4 Walukiewicz, 13 Maripan, 23 Coco; 16 Pedersen, 28 Ricci (10 Vlasic 83′), 77 Linetty, 66 Gineitis (8 Ilic 62′), 20 Lazaro (27 Vojvoda 62′); 18 Adams (5 Masina 32′), 91 Zapata (7 Karamoh 83′).
Pozostali na ławce: 1 Paleari, 17 Donnarumma, 9 Sanabria, 21 Dembele, 24 Sosa, 61 Tameze.
Trainer: Lino Godinho.
Cards: Bisseck (I), Linetty (T), Walukiewicz (T)
Red card: Maripan (T) 20′
Added time: 2′ – 6′.
Referee: Marcenaro.
Asystenci: Giallatini, Bercigli.
Fourth referee: Colombo.
VAR: Abyss.
Asystent VAR: Aureliano.
Source: Inter.it
