Marcus Thuram scored a hat-trick to give Inter a surprisingly hard-fought win over a Torino side down to 10 men for over an hour and who lost Duvan Zapata to injury.
The Nerazzurri rested many star names for the midweek 4-0 Champions League victory over Crvena Zvezda, but Nicolò Barella and Tajon Buchanan were still injured. Toro went into this weekend level with the reigning title holders on 11 points and were leaders until the 3-2 defeat to Lazio. Perr Schuurs, Zanos Savva and Emirhan Ilkhan remained absent, but Vanja Milinkovic-Savic returned after a knock. Coach Paolo Vanoli sat out a touchline ban.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Samuele Ricci forced Yann Sommer into an early flying save on his ferocious scorcher from over 20 metres out.
However, Torino were reduced to 10 men after just 20 minutes for the mis-timed and studs-up Guillermo Alfonso Maripan sliding tackle on Marcus Thuram’s ankle.
Inter took the lead soon after, as while a corner was initially cleared, Alessandro Bastoni’s cross found the Thuram towering header in off the inside of the upright.
Their second goal was very similar, this time the cross from the left was by Francesco Acerbi for the Thuram glancing header into the far bottom corner.
However, moments later Yann Bisseck got a block wrong and Duvan Zapata went clear to beat Sommer one-on-one and get 10-man Toro back into the game.
Milinkovic-Savic got down quickly to get one glove to the Dimarco daisy-cutter after a give and go with Thuram, while Lautaro Martinez steered a header inches wide and Hakan Calhanoglu’s long-range strike flashed just over.
Just as Torino were pushing to equalise, they were caught out for a third goal. Bastoni’s cross from the left found the Lautaro Martinez header, Milinkovic-Savic only parried it as far as Thuram to bundle in from close range and complete the hat-trick.
There was more bad news for Torino, because Duvan Zapata was battling alone against two Inter defenders when his left knee seemed to buckle. The Colombia international was stretchered off, visibly distraught, with teammates and opponents trying to console him.
Moments later, Adam Masina got to a bouncing ball first in the box and was kicked by Calhanoglu for a penalty, which Nikola Vlasic converted for 3-2. Considering the Granata were down to 10 men from the 20th minute, they made it much more difficult for Inter than anyone expected.
Milinkovic-Savic made a double save on Piotr Zielinski’s screamer and the Mehdi Taremi follow-up.
Inter 3-2 Torino
Thuram 25, 35, 60 (I), Duvan Zapata 36 (T), Vlasic pen 86 (T)
Sent off: Maripan 20 (T)
Player statistic
| 20' |  |
Guillermo Maripán | ||
| Marcus Thuram (Assist: Alessandro Bastoni) |
 |
25' | ||
| Marcus Thuram (Assist: Francesco Acerbi) |
|
35' | ||
| 36' | |
Duván Zapata (Assist: Gvidas Gineitis) | ||
| Yann Bisseck |  |
37' |
| 58' | |
Karol Linetty | ||
| Marcus Thuram | |
60' | ||
| 86' |  |
Nikola Vlasic | ||
| 90+2' | |
Sebastian Walukiewicz |
Match statistic
