Nicolo Barella scored a superb first-half goal as Inter earned an easy 3-1 home win over Cremonese in their fourth Serie A game of the season on Tuesday.
Joaquin Correa opened the scoring in the 12th minute from a counter-attack after Cremonese goalkeeper Ionut Radu blocked an Edin Dzeko effort.
Barella doubled the lead in the 38th minute after the Italy international stunned the Cremonese defense with a long-range finish from Hakan Calhanoglu’s cross.
Cremonese struggled to fight back after Inter’s opening goal and while the sublime side created fewer chances in the first half, they still had two leads.
Cyriel Dessers made a powerful save from Samir Handanovic in the 14th minute while Charles Pickel’s strike five minutes later was easily predicted by the Inter keeper.
Substitute Lautaro Martinez, who came on for Correa in the second half, scored in the 76th minute after a quick counter-attack initiated by Barella.
Martinez, Inter’s top scorer last season, has scored or assisted in every game in the first four games of the campaign for the first time in Serie A.
Cremonese were not in a slump and their efforts in the second half were not entirely in vain as David Okereke scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute.
Okereke, who joined Cremonese from Club Brugge in the summer, surprised everyone with a brilliant shot from distance, his second goal of the season.
Inter, second in the table with nine points from four games, face rivals AC Milan on Saturday while Cremonese host Sassuolo on Sunday.
