Inter dish out derby destruction to claim Serie A summit

MILAN: Inter Milan laid down an early title marker on Saturday (Sep 16) by handing out a 5-1 derby hammering to AC Milan and going it alone at the Serie A summit.

Four wins from their opening four matches have Inter leading the pack with a perfect 12 points, two ahead of their other fierce rivals Juventus who earlier beat Lazio 3-1.

Milan are third, a further point back after being taught a humiliating lesson by their local rivals.

Spurred on by the majority of a heaving and raucous San Siro crowd, Inter claimed their fifth straight derby win in all competitions thanks to a Henrikh Mkhitaryan brace, Marcus Thuram's rocket and two late strikes from Hakan Calhanoglu and Davide Frattesi.

Simone Inzaghi's side claimed the points with a display which showed why they got past Milan to reach last season's Champions League final and confirmed their status as early title favourites.

Thuram also continued his fast start in an Inter shirt, the new man also crucial to Mkhitaryan's fifth-minute opener.

France forward Thuram bundled past Malick Thiaw before finding Federico Dimarco whose mishit shot was guided home by the former Armenia midfielder, who almost headed in a second six minutes later.

And Thuram then underlined Inter's superiority seven minutes before the break after a lightning breakaway started by Lautaro Martinez, collecting from Denzel Dumfries before cutting inside the hapless Thiaw and crashing in an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area.

The match looked dead and buried with 45 minutes to play but Rafael Leao halved the deficit in the 57th minute when he rolled in his second of the season after being brilliantly put through by Olivier Giroud.

Milan's loud "away" support urged their team on, but Mkhitaryan silenced them