Inter Milan climbed back to within three points of Serie A leaders Napoli after they thrashed Lecce 4-0.
The struggling hosts had plenty of chances to get on the scoresheet in the first half but Inter’s quality shone through as Davide Frattesi and Lautaro Martinez put them 2-0 up at the break.
Denzel Dumfries extended the visitors’ lead 12 minutes into the second half and just four minutes Mehdi Taremi completed the scoring when he converted a penalty for his first goal of the season.
Inter hit the front in the sixth minute largely thanks to a piece of brilliance from Marcus Thuram.
The Inter forward latched onto a loose ball deep inside the Lecce half and showed neat footwork before passing the ball across the face of goal for Frattesi to stab home his first goal since October.
The home side responded and posed the next threat through Federico Baschirotto but the central defender lashed high and wide to let Inter off the hook.
Frattesi thought he had his second goal of the night but celebrations were cut short after he had the ball in the back of the net after VAR ruled the goal to be offside.
Lecce showed plenty of ambition for an equaliser and Patrick Dorgu, linked to Manchester United, found himself with space inside the area but was unable to find the target.
Inter ought to have had a second when a chance presented itself to Thuram with the goal gaping but he missed the target when it looked easier to score.
The visitors were showing their quality without having to get out of second gear and they doubled their advantage six minutes before the break.
Martinez picked up the ball on the right wing and fended off the challenge of a couple of Lecce defenders before powerfully finding the top corner of Wladimiro Falcone’s goal in superb fashion from outside the box.
Lecce started the second period brightly with Nikola Krstovic and Thorir Helgason both missed attempts before the former forced Yann Sommer into hir first save of the game with an effort from distance.
Inter put the game out of sight after Martinez’s backheel gave space to Dumfries, who was able to bend an effort into the top corner and make it 3-0.
It got worse for the hosts when Falcone tripped Frattesi inside the box and substitute Taremi made no mistake in drilling the spot-kick into the bottom right corner.
With the game out of sight, the hosts continued to plug away in hope of finding a goal of their own.
The closest they came was when Dorgu’s cross into the box found Santiago Pierotti but he volleyed wide of the target.
