Inter see off Cagliari to make it two wins from two in Serie A

[p]Nothing less than a second consecutive Scudetto will be expected from Cristian Chivu and his men this season, and they looked to have picked up right where they left off in a 4-1 opening-day victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/monza/4YSMlwj7/"]Monza[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cagliari/SCGVmKHb/"]Cagliari[/a] didn’t seem to have a plan to stop [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/inter/Iw7eKK25/"]Inter[/a], who dominated possession in the opening stages and took an early lead in the first 10 minutes. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barella-nicolo/W0yrjzz2/"]Nicolo Barella[/a] squared it to the edge of the area where [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calhanoglu-hakan/IRQeP5FJ/"]Hakan Calhanoglu[/a] surprised [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caprile-elia/rBsmDlYq/"]Elia Caprile[/a] by opening up his body and rolling a precise shot into the bottom-right corner.[/b][/p][embed guid="51b2067c-03af-497a-aaae-b070d037600f" url="https://x.com/SerieA_EN/status/2094137925092934101" social-type="twitter" /][p]The hosts were powerless to create any chances of their own as Inter came forward in droves, though the Nerazzurri’s finishing left a lot to be desired for the remainder of the half.[/p][p]Caprile was no doubt a factor, showing great reactions to push [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dimarco-federico/W6lypZn3/"]Federico Dimarco[/a]’s powerful volley over the top, though he was also caught out of his area and had to rely on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodriguez-juan/b93N2zEt/"]Juan Rodriguez[/a] to retreat and stop Barella’s effort from crossing the line.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/esposito-francesco/dKXxEOKj/"]Pio Esposito[/a] was next to strike on target, but Caprile kept the young striker from finding the net here for a second season in a row.[/p][p]Despite Caprile again needing to be on form to deny Esposito from close range, there was a marked improvement in Cagliari after the break as they finally got some shots away.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="4ffb63f3-5af1-4129-851f-44e9132f0552" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="9112727b-e531-46b6-96b2-b9ae394963fc" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pisacane-fabio/AweRIpPk/"]Fabio Pisacane[/a]’s substitutions just before the hour mark made a clear difference, too, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinez-josep/n5XVsSqd/"]Josep Martinez[/a] intervening at full stretch to stop [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fadera-alieu/YclDapI5/"]Alieu Fadera[/a] from finding [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kevin-carlos/zLSwIsl9/"]Kevin Carlos[/a] with a teasing delivery.[/p][p]Subsequent misses from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/martinez-lautaro/QHk1CXUh/"]Lautaro Martinez[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bastoni-alessandro/On4TkPTN/"]Alessandro Bastoni[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thuram-marcus/hMMX02Fm/"]Marcus Thuram[/a] – all set up by Dimarco – started to ring alarm bells in the Inter camp, and set up an interesting final 10 minutes.[/p][p]The Sardinians came alive, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/obert-adam/YZEkc9qD/"]Adam Obert[/a] entering the area to fire over, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/adopo-michel/thWJbHFE/"]Michel Ndary Adopo[/a]’s shot was somehow headed away by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bisseck-yann-aurel/b3kUQZ4h/"]Yann Bisseck[/a], meaning the home side failed to salvage an unlikely point.[/p][p]With this their 10th win in 11 top-flight meetings with Cagliari, this won’t be the biggest test of Inter’s credentials, but winning their opening two league fixtures for the first time in three seasons is certainly a good sign for Chivu and company.[/p][p]Likewise, Cagliari’s term will not be defined by this result, though they will hope to avoid equalling their club record for consecutive defeats – currently eight against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/juventus/C06aJvIB/"]Juventus[/a] – against a single Serie A opponent when they visit Inter at the San Siro in February.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barella-nicolo/W0yrjzz2/"]Nicolo Barella[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/inter/Iw7eKK25/"]Inter Milan[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/cagliari-SCGVmKHb/inter-Iw7eKK25/summary/stats/?mid=U9xYyrto"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][embed guid="3dc8ba14-b42d-45dc-92f6-c22344c85af8" url="https://x.com/Inter_en/status/2094163943056920759" social-type="twitter" /]