Inter were worthy victors over Frosinone, winning 3-0 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday night, climbing up to second in the Serie A table.
Keita Balde broke the deadlock for the Nerazzurri in the early stages, Lautaro Martinez put an end to the contest in the second half, before Keita got his second of the game late on.
The hosts were dominant from the very start and piled together a series of great chances before finding the back of the net on 10 minutes with a smooth Keita finish, after he dribbed past an opponent inside the box.
Frosinone struggled to fight back, with centre forward Andrea Pinamonti, who came through the Inter youth sytem and is on loan from the Nerazzurri, left to battle against Milan Skriniar and Stefan De Vrij up front.
He did get a chance to strike on 53 minutes, the best opportunity for the visitors, but his header was saved by Samir Handanovic.
Only moments later Lautaro doubled Inter’s lead, putting the game to bed by heading home from inside the box.
Luciano Spalletti’s men had a number of other chances to close out the game, with Lautaro again, as well as Matteo Politano, one of the best players on the pitch, spurning opportunities.
Keita bagged another in the final ten minutes, sealing the win and three fundamental points for Inter.
READY FOR SPURS
Despite coming into this game after the international break, the Nerazzurri seemed in great shape. Physically they outplayed and outpaced Frosinone, pressing high up the pitch in a very organised way, with three to four players at a time and often recovering possession in the opposition half. Tactically the team is well deployed, and crucially, knows exactly what to do. And against Frosinone many key players were rested, with Mauro Icardi coming on in the final minutes, and Ivan Perisic staying all 90 minutes on the bench. The squad players won it for Inter, and this is always a great sign of the form a team is in. Tottenham come from a great performance, but they’ll need another top level one to beat Inter.
WHERE’S RADJA?
Not all is perfect in the Nerazzurri world though, with Radja Nainggolan still seeking top form. The Ninja can still be a difference maker – as we saw at the start of the season – but seems far from his best. Tonight’s game was another testament of the fact he physically needs to sharpen up, having come out of two injuries between July and now. With a full strength Nainggolan, Inter could be even better, making the most of his physicality, strength and especially his quality when going for goals.
PINAMONTI IS IMPROVING
He battled until the very end and was the closest one to scoring for the Ciociari, receiving a standing ovation from his fans. He could have done little else against the Inter backline, but a had a solid game nonetheless. Against his parent club, the 19-year-old showed that his growth process is continuing on the right track, after two goals scored in the past three games. Inter could certainly use this kind of player next season.
