Inter Milan delivered a dominant 5-0 victory over struggling Hellas Verona on Saturday, with all five goals coming in a scintillating first-half display. The win temporarily lifted Inter to the top of Serie A, moving them two points ahead of second-placed Napoli, who will play AS Roma on Sunday.
JoaquÃn Correa opened the scoring in the 17th minute, finishing off a brilliant team move. Marcus Thuram then added a quick-fire double, before Stefan de Vrij and Yann Bisseck also got on the scoresheet to complete the rout.
The match began with Verona having a couple of early chances. Flavius Daniliuc forced Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer into a save from a free kick in the opening five minutes, and Casper Tengstedt struck the crossbar shortly afterward. However, these chances seemed to spark Inter into action.
Correa’s opener came after a precise pass from Thuram, who had partnered him in attack with Lautaro MartÃnez resting following his late return from international duty. Correa then chipped the ball over Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò, finishing a perfectly executed move.
Thuram doubled Inter’s lead in the 22nd minute when Correa set him up with a low pass, allowing the French forward to dribble past Montipò and calmly slot the ball home. Thuram then struck again in the 27th minute, finishing a low shot after latching onto a long ball from Alessandro Bastoni, making it 3-0. The goal brought him to nine for the season, placing him second in the Serie A top scorer race, two behind Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui.
De Vrij added a fourth with a powerful strike before Bisseck completed the 5-0 rout in the 41st minute, further exposing Verona’s defensive vulnerabilities.
Inter’s five first-half goals marked only the second time in Serie A history that the club had scored so many in an away league game, the only other occasion being a 5-1 win over Sampdoria in 1964.
Inter, now on 28 points from 13 matches, will next face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday before traveling to Fiorentina for their next Serie A fixture.
