Inter Milan bounced back from recent stumbles to secure a 2-0 Serie A victory over an in-form Cagliari, thanks to Lautaro Martinez’s early strike and Francesco Pio Esposito’s debut goal.
The Nerazzurri had been struggling in the league, dropping consecutive matches before scraping a 2-1 win over Sassuolo and claiming a 2-0 triumph against Ajax in the Champions League.
Martinez returned to the starting lineup after recovering from a back issue, with Ange-Yoan Bonny not fully fit. Notably, the match featured the rare encounter of brothers Sebastiano and Francesco Pio Esposito on opposite teams.
Cagliari were missing key players, including Zito Luvumbo, Gabriele Zappa, Boris Radunovic, and Nicola Pintus, but had arrived off the back of consecutive Serie A victories against Parma and Lecce, plus a dominant 4-1 Coppa Italia win over Frosinone.
Inter captain Martinez made an immediate impact. Within nine minutes, he was perfectly positioned at the back post to steer home a header from Alessandro Bastoni’s left-sided cross, marking the 12th time in his career he has scored against Cagliari.
Cagliari had their moments, with Marcus Thuram attempting a back-heel effort that Elia Caprile easily saved, and Andrea Belotti forcing Josep Martinez into a rush that left the striker spraining his left knee.
Inter came close to doubling their advantage in the 53rd minute when Nicolo Barella set up Hakan Calhanoglu for a low, first-time strike from outside the D, only for the ball to rebound off the inside of the post.
Moments later, Thuram broke past Yerry Mina, but Caprile was equal to his effort. Federico Dimarco delivered a dangerous volley across the six-yard box, but Thuram missed the tap-in, while Lautaro Martinez’s attempt went wide after Caprile mistimed a rush off his line.
Cagliari thought they had pulled one back on 73 minutes, when Michael Folorunsho’s header from a corner struck the base of the near post.
Inter maintained their composure, and Dimarco, Manuel Akanji, and Francesco Pio Esposito all went close from promising positions. Dimarco later made a crucial block to deny Gennaro Borrelli’s ferocious half-volley from 12 yards.
The breakthrough for the home side finally came when Dimarco pulled the ball back from the byline, allowing Pio Esposito to score his first-ever Serie A goal.
Despite continued pressure from Cagliari, including Michel Adopo’s near miss and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s scuffed effort one-on-one with Caprile, Inter held firm to claim a deserved victory.
