MILAN: A hat-trick from Marcus Thuram gave Inter Milan a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino at home in their Serie A clash on Saturday, following an early red card for visiting defender Guillermo Maripan.

Inter are second in the league standings with 14 points, two behind Napoli. Torino are sixth with 11 points.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute when Inter capitalised on Maripan’s dismissal, with Thuram heading in from close range five minutes after the defender was sent off for a late challenge on the French forward.

Thuram doubled Inter’s lead in the 35th minute with another header from close range. However, Torino pulled one back a minute later, with Duvan Zapata taking advantage of a defensive error to finish from inside the box.

Thuram completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, being in the right place to tap in a rebound after Torino goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a header.

The drama continued as Torino forward Nikola Vlasic converted a penalty four minutes from time after Hakan Calhanoglu had tripped Adam Masina in the area. However, the visitors were unable to mount a final push to find an equaliser.

Torino suffered a further setback when Zapata was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected knee injury, with the Colombian visibly in pain.

Thuram, who is the joint top scorer in the league this season with seven goals, said Inter cannot afford to keep on leaking in goals.

“It’s also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper. We are eleven (players) on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone’s job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games,” he said.

“There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all.”

Mateo Retegui also scored a hat-trick for Atalanta earlier on Saturday in their 5-1 home victory against Genoa.

The victory at the Gewiss Stadium ensured Atalanta would move up to ninth on 10 points.

Ederson and Marten de Roon also scored with spectacular strikes as Atalanta crushed sorry Genoa, who scored late thr­ough Jeff Ekhator but dropped into the relegation zone on goal difference behind Lecce.

“I’m really happy, but not for myself, for the team, who played really well,” Retegui told DAZN. “I can only thank everyone for how I’ve been treated over these first few months, I’m really happy.”

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2024