Inter thrash Pisa to maintain control in title race

Published
0
MILAN: Inter Milan’s Carlos Augusto (top) and Pisa SC’s Idrissa Toure go for a header during their Serie A match at the San Siro.—Reuters
MILAN: Inter Milan’s Carlos Augusto (top) and Pisa SC’s Idrissa Toure go for a header during their Serie A match at the San Siro.—Reuters

MILAN: Inter Milan found themselves two goals down to relegation-battling Pisa but roared back to earn a 6-2 win at the San Siro on Friday, as the hosts continue to set the pace at the top of the Serie A standings.

Fans at a soaking San Siro were left in shock by Stefano Moreo’s early brace, the first thanks to a howler from goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

But Piotr Zielinski’s penalty in the 39th minute sparked a comeback at the end of the first half, with strike pairing Lautaro Martinez and Pio Esposito both thumping home powerful headers to put Inter ahead at the break.

Inter missed plenty of chances to put Pisa away in the second half before Federico Dimarco found the net eight minutes from time, with Ange-Yoan Bonny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan netting late on to add some gloss to the victory — Inter’s ninth win in a 10-match unbeaten run in the league.

“There was the desire to win the game, we didn’t start very well but when I came on, the idea was to score one before half-time and after that it would have been a long second half [for Pisa],” Dimarco, who was introduced shortly before Zielinski scored, told DAZN.

“But we scored three, we reacted well. Sometimes, when you play a lot of games, you can approach a game the wrong way, but it was important to turn it around. It happens to make a mistake in the approach by playing so much, the important thing was to overturn it.”

Inter move to 52 points, six ahead of second-placed AC Milan who are away to fourth-placed AS Roma on Sunday, with champions Napoli third on 43 points before facing Juventus. Pisa are bottom of the standings on 14 points.

This heavy defeat came after a dream start in the Tuscan side’s first match against Inter at the San Siro since October 1990.

Inter controlled the early exchanges before gifting Pisa an 11th minute lead. Sommer came out of his area to collect a backpass but his wayward ball to Zielinski was met first time by Moreo’s lobbed effort from distance with the keeper in no man’s land.

Pisa doubled their lead 12 minutes later when Moreo met Matteo Tramoni’s corner at the near post to power a header past Sommer.

Inter were handed a lifeline six minutes before the break when Zielinski’s shot was handled by Tramoni in the area. Zielinski stepped up and smashed the spot kick down the middle into the roof of the net.

The hosts were level two minutes later, with Martinez heading home Dimarco’s floated ball into the six-yard area. In stoppage time before the interval, Esposito powered a header into the net from Alessandro Bastoni’s cross.

Dimarco’s volleyed effort hit both posts before crossing the line as Inter finally made their second-half dominance pay and four minutes from the end Bonny collected Dimarco’s pass, drove forward into the box and found the net from a wide angle.

Mkhitaryan bundled a header over the line after a corner in stoppage time and Inter can now focus again on the Champions League where they travel to face Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026

Opinion

Editorial

State of denial
Updated 18 Oct, 2026

State of denial

If the Taliban regime commits to preventing groups based on its soil from attacking neighbouring states, the process of normalisation and regional integration of Afghanistan can begin.
Suffering in silence
18 Oct, 2026

Suffering in silence

TOO many Pakistani children have nowhere to turn when abused online. An estimated 1.5m internet-using children aged...
Export imperative
18 Oct, 2026

Export imperative

THE government’s efforts to boost Pakistan’s external sector through diversified financing, higher foreign...
No talks
Updated 17 Oct, 2026

No talks

The government should understand that the PTI’s protest march and its reaction to it will look like nothing more than a storm in a teacup.
Strengthening LGs
17 Oct, 2026

Strengthening LGs

THE ECP has done well to refuse to allow the Punjab administration to push the local government elections to April....
Lesser citizens
Updated 17 Oct, 2026

Lesser citizens

Interfaith harmony will prevail when the message to end bias is conveyed from the pulpit, alongside efforts to punish zealotry.