Inter Milan hit Lazio for six to keep pressure on Serie A leaders Atalanta

Inter Milan scored four times in a 12-minute blitz to rout Lazio and ease themselves to within three points of Serie A leaders Atalanta with a game in hand.

Hakan Calhanoglu’s 41st-minute penalty sparked an onslaught at the Stadio Olimpico, where Inter boss Simone Inzaghi had both played and managed with such distinction, with Federico Dimarco, Nicolo Barella and Denzel Dumfries all finding the back of the net by the time the clock had ticked on to 53 minutes.

Substitute Carlos Augusto struck 17 minutes from time and Marcus Thuram at the death to complete a comprehensive 6-0 victory which left the Nerazzurri still in third place, but just a point behind Napoli and three adrift of Atalanta with both having played a game more.

Lazio’s Nuno Tavares served early warning of the threat posed by the hosts when he tested keeper Yann Sommer from distance with just seven minutes gone, and Gustav Isaksen followed suit four minutes later to keep the Switzerland international on his toes.

Tijjani Noslin twice failed to hit the target in quick succession as the home side continued to push, and it was not until the game had passed the half-hour mark that Inter began to make an impression as an attacking force.

There were nine minutes of the first half remaining when Dumfries saw his header saved by keeper Ivan Provedel after Calhanoglu, who had seen a shot blocked moments earlier, sent in an inviting cross, but it was then that the visitors flexed their muscles in devastating fashion.

It was Calhanoglu who broke the deadlock four minutes before the break when, after a VAR review had adjudged that Samuel Gigot had handled, he converted the resulting penalty.

The visitors went in 2-0 ahead at the break when Dimarco made the most of Dumfries’ supply to extend their advantage.

The Rome side’s misery increased significantly within eight minutes of the restart when Barella smashed home a third from distance before Dumfries headed a fourth to put the result beyond doubt.

Substitute Loum Tchaouna and Nicolo Rovella both fired wide as Lazio attempted to add a little respectability to the scoreline, but Augusto increased the pain when he applied the finishing touch to Dimarco’s ball in.

Piotr Zielinski might have added a sixth seven minutes from time, but Thuram was not so wasteful when he made no mistake after Henrikh Mkhitaryan had set him up.