ROME: The newly-crowned Serie A champion Inter Milan continued its momentum as it saw off Sampdoria 5-1 on Saturday, with Alexis Sanchez bagging a brace and Andrea Pinamonti scoring his maiden goal.
The Nerazzurri took the first Scudetto since 2011 last weekend with four rounds to spare. Having equaled the all-time club record of 13 consecutive home victories, Inter entered the San Siro without Arturo Vidal and Aleksandar Kolarov, and coach Antonio Conte benched Romelu Lukaku, opting for Sanchez to partner with Lautaro Martinez upfront.
Inter took a dream start just three minutes into the game as Roberto Gagliardini scored the opening goal before he set up another for Sanchez in the 25th minute. Despite Keita Balde Diao pulling one goal back in the 34th minute, Sanchez helped the home side restore the two-goal cushion one minute later.
Inter showed no mercy after the break as starlet Pinamonti came off the bench to score his first goal in Serie A before Lautaro sealed the match by converting a penalty.
Napoli temporarily catapulted themselves into second place after a 4-1 away victory over Spezia, while Lazio saw its Champions League hope become slim after a 2-0 away defeat to Fiorentina.
Also on Saturday, Udinese shared the spoils with Bologna at 1-1. Agencies