Gol Party Defeats Monza, Inter Milan Leaves Juventus

Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez celebrated the goal against Monza. (X/@Inter)

JAKARTA - Inter Milan showed their best performance and a goal party when they beat Monza 5-1 in the Italian Serie A match at the Brianteo Stadium, Monza, Sunday, January 14 in the morning WIB. Inter also left Juventus in the hunt for the Scudetto.

Inter were unstoppable during their away match against Monza. They also appear consistent. After a 1-1 draw against Genoa, Inter managed to beat Verona 2-1.

The brilliant performance continued as Inter faced Monza. In a three-kick duel, midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu and captain Lautaro Martinez scored a brace that brought Inter to beat the hosts.

The victory made I Nerazzurri maintain an unbeaten record during 14 league games. Inter are also getting stronger at the top of the standings with 51. Simone Inzaghi's team is five points ahead of Juve who is in second place.

This makes Inter still at pole position in the race for the Scudetto. Only the competition is still long and Juve's chances of chasing Inter are not closed. They can close the distance of points if they beat their visitors Sassuolo.

Inzaghi could not confirm that Inter would win the Scudetto. According to him Inter are still competing in the Champions League and rival teams are waiting for Inter to make the slightest mistake of winning the top spot.

"I can't say [Inter league champions] because there were still 20 matches in Serie A. Last season, we won two trophies and appeared in the Champions League final. But right now we are still halfway through," said Inzaghi.

"The competition is still long and other teams are waiting for us to make the slightest mistake. We are trying to stay focused and none of us are talking about [the championship title]," he said.

Meanwhile Monza himself is still standing in the middle board. The defeat to Inter made Monza remain in 11th place with 25.

Monza is expected to secure a position to stay in Serie A. Moreover, they are already 10 points ahead of Cagliari, the team that occupies the top position or rank 18 among the teams in the relegation zone.

In that match, Inter played impressively by pressing the opponent's defense. It didn't take long for them to break into the opponent's goal through Calhanoglu's penalty.

The penalty was given after former Inter defender Roberto Gagliardini touched the ball from the header of striker Lautaro Martinez in the 12th minute. The referee also pointed to the spot and Calhanoglu successfully completed the penalty execution.

Winning 1-0, Inter again played attacking to press the opponent. Only two minutes later, Inter had added goals. This time Martinez broke into Monza's goal with a close-range shot.

Monza actually scored a goal that reduced the lag through Matteo Pessina who continued the free kick in the 30th minute.

However, after being reviewed through VAR, referee Andrea Fraliano annulled the goal because Pessina was judged to be in an offside position. The score remains 2-0 for Inter and has not changed until halftime.

In the second half, the game went well. However, Inter dominated a bit. But Monza also played attacking in order to catch up on goal.

It's just that Monza's efforts were fruitless. Moreover, the host then lost a player after Raffaele Palladino received a red card in the 60th minute. Palladino was expelled for provocation of the referee.

The advantages of the number of players were put to good use by Inter. Shortly thereafter, Calhanoglu completed the brace after welcoming Marcus Thuram's back heel pass.

This is the first time the Turkish national team midfielder has scored two goals in one game since joining Inter in 2021. Previously, Calhanoglu played four seasons at AC Milan.

Monza was finally able to reduce the lag. They managed to score from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.

Penalti diberikan setelah bek Inter Matteo Darmian menutuh Dany Mota di kotak terbasah.Pessina pun meekeksi penalti dengan baik. Skor pun berubah menjadi 3-1.

But Inter is unstoppable. Monza couldn't add more goals. Meanwhile, Inter even widened their lead from the penalty spot in the 84th minute.

This is the third penalty in the match. The referee again pointed to the spot because Monza player Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro pulled the Davide Frattesi jersey.

Martinez completed his job. The Argentine national team striker also scored 18 goals and made two assists that made him the top scorer of the league.

Just two minutes later, Thuram solidified Inter's victory. He completed a mature pass from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and changed the score to 5-1. This score lasted until the end of the match.