Inter had conceded an incredibly miserly twelve goals this season prior to kick-off, with goalkeeper Yann Sommer coming into the clash with three more clean sheets than goals conceded. However, the Swiss stopper was beaten after just ten minutes when Alessandro Bastoni’s failure to clear in his own box was pounced upon by Charles De Ketelaere, who buried a hard, low shot into the net.
The hosts were bailed out, though, by the VAR when they alerted referee Andrea Colombo to a handball by Aleksey Miranchuk in the build-up.
Having survived that early scare, Inter went on the offensive and a route-one ball from Bastoni 10 minutes later picked out Nicolò Barella, who showed great composure to round the onrushing Marco Carnesecchi and finish. However, he had mistimed his run and was correctly flagged offside.
Ultimately, the Nerazzuri were not going to be denied and, on 26 minutes, Lautaro Martínez played a perfectly weighted ball that split the Atalanta defence. Carnesecchi beat Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the ball but could only spill it into the path of Matteo Darmian, with the full-back rolling it into the unguarded net for his first strike of the season.
It looked like the goals were going to come like buses for the former Manchester United man but he was denied at close range just three minutes later.
The aforementioned Martínez is someone who knows where the back of the net is, as he proved in first-half stoppage time. After working some space on the edge of the box, he unleashed a stunning left-footed effort that left Carnesecchi rooted to the spot and Inter two goals to the good at the break.
Just over five minutes into the second half, there was a lengthy VAR check that eventually concluded two things - that a cross from Federico Dimarco had not gone out of play, and that Denzel Dumfries’ subsequent cross from the right struck the hand of Hans Hateboer.
A penalty was therefore awarded and, while Martinez stepped up only to be denied by an excellent Carnesecchi save, Dimarco was on hand to bury the rebound.
The hosts were not finished there, and a fourth came on 70 minutes when two subs combined. Alexis Sánchez’s quick free-kick on the right was met by the head of Davide Frattesi, who got in front of Mario Pašalić to power into the bottom corner.
In the end, Simone Inzaghi’s men strolled through the game’s remainder as their 22nd victory in 26 league games sees them open up a staggering twelve-point gap on second-place Juventus. Atalanta, meanwhile missed out on the chance to overtake Bologna into fourth - they currently trail fourth spot by just two points.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan)
