At 3:45 a.m. Beijing time on December 13, the 17th round of the Serie A ushered in a focus battle: defending champions Inter Milan hosted Cagliari.
In the first round of matches, the leader AC Milan drew 1-1 with Udinese away, accumulating 39 points in 17 games. Napoli lost 1-0 at home to promoted Mannpoli, with 36 points in 17 games. Inter, who have accumulated 37 points in 16 games, can reach the top of the Serie A table as long as they beat Cagliari at home in this round.
Inter started at 352, with Lautaro Martinez and Sanchez pairing up front, midfielder fives Perisic, Charhanoglu, Brozovic, Barrera and Dumfries, three centre-backs Bastoni, Devry and Shkrinjar, goalkeeper Handanovic.
Cagliari's starting formation is also 352, with João Pedro and Keita forming a double forward.
As soon as the match began, Inter, who were the main home players in overall strength, began to attack, and Barrera's shot was high. Cagliari quickly returned the color, counter-attacking attack defused by Handanovic.
Inter broke the deadlock on the pitch and also spent an hour seizing the opportunity to set the piece. In the 30th minute, Inter's corner kick was released and Lautaro Martinez's header was successful. Inter led Cagliari 1-0.
In the 43rd minute, Dumfries tripped into the penalty area, Inter won a penalty, Lautaro Martinez came to take the penalty, but was saved by the opposing goalkeeper. Lautaro took a penalty and was not as steady as Char Khan Oulu.
In the second half, Inter continued to dominate the attack on the pitch. In the 50th minute, Sanchez scored. Inter extended the score to 2-0.
After two goals behind, Cagliari has no motivation to fight back. In the 66th minute, Char khan oulu scored from a distance to give Inter a 3-0 lead over Cagliari.
In the 68th minute, Lautaro thrust forward to throw off the opposing defender to form a single knife and kick the ball into the goal in front of the goalkeeper. Inter locked in the score at 4-0.
Inter won 17 games, 12 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss and accumulated 40 points to top the Serie A table, one point ahead of the second place AC Milan.
And in the next round, Inter is expected to continue to extend the lead! In the 18th round, Inter will play bottom-up Salernitana, with all three points without suspense, and AC Milan will die at home with Napoli.