ROME: Inter Milan’s attack might be better off without Romelu Lukaku.

The Nerazzurri are spreading the scoring around more and playing as a more cohesive unit since Lukaku left for European champions Chelsea.

Three days after a 6-1 rout of Bologna, Inter recovered from a goal down for a 3-1 away win on Tuesday over a Fiorentina side that had won three straight.

Matteo Darmian, Edin Dzeko and Ivan Perisic scored for Inter after Riccardo Sottil’s opener for Fiorentina as the Serie A champions extended their unbeaten start with a fourth win in five matches.

The result put Inter on 13 points from five games, one ahead of second-placed Napoli, who will be looking to maintain their perfect record when they travel to Sampdoria on Thursday.

With 18 goals in five matches, Inter have the most productive attack in the league and also the highest number of different scorers (11) virtually erasing worries about replacing the 24 league goals that Lukaku scored last season.

“We’ve had a great start to the season but I think we can still improve,” said new Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, who was hired when Antonio Conte stepped down days after leading the Nerazzurri to their first Serie A title in 11 years. “We lost three key players this summer in Lukaku, [Achraf] Hakimi and [Christian] Eriksen but we’re coming together.”

Fiorentina, who had Nicolas Gonzalez sent off with 12 minutes left, are sixth on nine points after their second defeat of the season.

Atalanta jumped to fourth on 10 points after goals by Robin Gosens and Davide Zappacosta earned them a 2-1 home win against mid-table Sassuolo.

Bologna are down to seventh with eight points after they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Genoa.

The win for Inter against an intense Fiorentina side was a warning to Serie A’s contenders that they have every intention of going the long haul in the title race.

They were on the ropes at the start with Samir Handanovic twice denying Dusan Vlahovic and Alfred Duncan clipping the crossbar from distance before Sottil tapped in at the far post from Gonzalez’s cross to open the scoring midway through the first half.

Inter did not panic, however, and seven minutes into the second half, Nicolo Barella’s foray into the area ended with the midfielder crossing for Darmian, who found the back of the net with a low, angled shot.

Three minutes later, Dzeko headed home from Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner to give Inter a deserved lead.

Fiorentina’s hopes of a comeback were hit when Gonzalez picked up a second yellow card for pulling Alessandro Bastoni’s shirt.

Perisic then put the result beyond doubt with three minutes left when he scored into an empty goal from Roberto Gagliardini’s cross, wrapping up a fine performance from the visitors who needed a half to get into their groove.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2021