Inter were clinical on the counter-attack against a perhaps too brave Cremonese side, as Nicolò Barella scored a sensational volley and provided an assist for Lautaro Martinez after the Joaquin Correa opener.
The Nerazzurri needed to get back on track after the 3-1 defeat to Lazio, but also rotate the squad ahead of this weekend’s Derby della Madonnina. Romelu Lukaku has been ruled out for a month with a thigh strain, joining Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the treatment table. Cremonese had lost all three games so far by very narrow margins and started Inter-owned goalkeeper Ionut Radu.
Federico Dimarco’s early free kick went over the wall and skimmed the near top corner, then he intercepted a Cremonese corner routine to spark a rapid counter-attack which saw Nicolò Barella set up Edin Dzeko, Radu only parried with one hand for Joaquin Correa to turn in the rebound.
Samir Handanovic had to rush off his line to close down Cyriel Dessers one-on-one, while Hakan Calhanoglu hit the half-volley just wide on a Barella lay-off.
Cremonese certainly did not sit back, as Dessers flicked on a throw-in for Charles Pickel to scuff straight at Handanovic, while Bianchetti made a decisive block to stop Correa scoring a second when sent through by Calhanoglu.
Inter doubled their lead in absolute style, because Barella went on the counter with Denzel Dumfries, Calhanoglu floated a ball to the edge of the box where Barella hit an absolutely perfect right-foot volley.
After the restart, the towering Emanuel Aiwu header on a corner flashed inches wide of the far post, while Milan Skriniar charged down the Dessers effort.
Luca Zanimacchia blasted over the bar and Giacomo Quagliata charged down a Dzeko attempt, but Dessers should’ve gone for a header on the David Okereke cross rather than an unnecessarily acrobatic volley.
Marcelo Brozovic scuffed his finish from just inside the area, but Milan Skriniar needed practically a goal-line clearance to deny Zanimacchia.
Inter had a triple chance on 73 minutes, as Ionut Radu denied Dzeko from point-blank range and the Lautaro Martinez follow-up before Dumfries fired over.
Cremonese certainly didn’t sit back at San Siro, but they were again caught on the counter-attack from inside the Inter penalty area. This time Barella provided the assist as Lautaro Martinez held off a defender to score one-on-one.
Okereke gave Cremonese a more than deserved consolation goal, his wonderful right-foot curler into the far top corner from outside the box.
Inter 3-1 Cremonese
Correa 12 (I), Barella 38 (I), Lautaro Martinez 76 (I), Okereke 89 (C)
For God’s sake, FI, you couldn’t find a better image than the one above?
(It’s like Brozo’s tattoo is foreshadowing the things to come.)