Soccer Football - Serie A - Lazio v Inter Milan - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - December 16, 2024 Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
(Reuters) - Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi has praised his players for standing up to hosts Lazio in a challenging opening half hour on Monday before turning the performance into one of club's most dominant in Serie A.
Lazio showed greater determination at the start but the defending champions grew into the game and stormed to a 6-0 win, scoring quick-fire goals either side of halftime in a superb display that silenced the Stadio Olimpico.
"In the first 25 minutes we were good at keeping our distance with a Lazio team that played well technically," Inzaghi told a press conference.
"We then too grew a lot technically, we managed to score two goals and the third at the start of the second half, closing out a game against a team of absolute value penalised by absences and injuries. We had some players out too but I'm happy."
Lazio were without suspended forward Valentin Castellanos as well as injured defender Alessio Romagnoli and midfielder Matias Vecino, while Inter were missing defenders Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard.
"We were playing against a team that won 16 out of (their previous) 22 games (in all competitions), and when they lost they didn't deserve it," Inzaghi added.
"We needed a game of great pace and determination, and we did it because the Italian championship always puts so many pitfalls in front of you."
Six different players were on the scoresheet in an away Serie A fixture for the first time in Inter's history as Hakan Calhanoglu, Federico Dimarco, Nicolo Barella, Denzel Dumfries, Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram all found the net.
Three of them -- Dumfries, Dimarco and Calhanoglu -- ended the game with a goal and an assist.
"Going into individual performances after a display like that is not easy," Inzaghi said.
"(Stefan) De Vrij ... has extraordinary consistency, Lautaro (Martinez) had a great game, for me it is as if he had scored a goal. He was very happy in the dressing room, he must continue to work like this and he will get satisfaction."
Inter increased the pressure at the top of the table as they sit third on 34 points, three points off Atalanta and a point behind Napoli with a game in hand on the top two. Fourth-placed Fiorentina and Lazio in fifth are three points behind them.
"We must continue like this, it is a very balanced championship with many teams that are on a positive streak," Inzaghi added.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
