Sanchez shines in Inter rout
MILAN: Alexis Sanchez scored a penalty and set up two goals as Inter Milan thrashed relegation candidates Brescia 6-0 in Serie A on Wednesday, while city rivals AC Milan snatched a last-gasp draw away to lowly SPAL.
Sanchez teed up Ashley Young to volley Inter ahead at San Siro after just five minutes and the Chile forward dispatched a spot-kick to double the lead following a foul on Victor Moses.
Danilo D’Ambrosio powered in a third just before half-time from a looping cross by Young, with Roberto Gagliardini rising to head home a Sanchez free-kick as Inter grabbed a fourth on 53 minutes.
Christian Eriksen bagged his first Serie A goal since his January move from Tottenham, forcing in from pointblank range after an excellent Jesse Joronen save denied Romelu Lukaku.
Antonio Candreva completed the romp two minutes from time with a crisp low drive into the corner.
“We kept our foot on the gas and the fact that we didn’t concede is a big positive,” Inter coach Antonio Conte said.
Sanchez, who made just his fourth league start, had his loan deal from Manchester United extended earlier in the day until the end of the Italian season.
“We brought him here for his qualities. Unfortunately we lost him as an option for a long time,” said Conte.
Brescia, who were again without Mario Balotelli due to an ongoing contract dispute, dropped to the foot of the table. They remain eight points from safety and are winless in 14 games.
SPAL surrendered a two-goal lead and squandered two precious points in their fight against relegation as a 94th-minute own goal by Francesco Vicari gifted Milan a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw.
First-half goals from Mattia Valoti and Sergio Floccari, the second a magnificent dipping 30-yard strike, put SPAL on top but the home side lost Marco D’Alessandro to a red card before half-time for a poor challenge on Theo Hernandez.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to action for the first time since Italian football’s restart, replacing the inform Ante Rebic on the hour, but it was another substitute Rafael Leao who gave Milan hope with a calm finish on 79 minutes.
RESULTS
Bologna 1 (Barrow 45+3) Cagliari 1 (Simeone 46); Inter Milan 6 (Young 5, Sanchez 20-pen, D’Ambrosio 45, Gagliardini 53, Eriksen 83, Candreva 88) Brescia 0; Fiorentina 1 (Cutrone 90) Sassuolo 3 (Defrel 24-pen, 35, Muldur 61); Hellas Verona 3 (Di Carmine 45+3-pen, Zaccagni 53, Pessina 80) Parma 2 (Kulusevski 14, Gagliolo 63); Lecce 1 (Mancosu 50-pen) Sampdoria 2 (Ramirez 40-pen, 75-pen); SPAL 2 (Valori 13, Floccari 30) AC Milan 2 (Leao 79, Vicari-og 90+4) STANDINGS P W D L GF GA Pts Juventus 29 23 3 3 59 25 72 Lazio 29 21 5 3 66 28 68 Inter Milan 29 19 7 3 62 29 64 Atalanta 28 17 6 5 80 39 57 Roma 28 14 6 8 53 38 48 Napoli 28 13 6 9 46 37 45
29 12 7 10 36 37 43 AC Hellas Milan Verona 29 11 9 9 37 34 42 29 10 9 10 48 45 39 Cagliari Parma 29 11 6 12 40 38 39 Bologna 29 10 8 11 41 46 38 Sassuolo 29 10 7 12 51 50 37 Fiorentina 29 7 10 12 35 42 31 Torino 29 9 4 16 33 52 31 Sampdoria 29 8 5 16 33 51 29 Udinese 28 7 7 14 23 41 28 Genoa 29 6 8 15 35 56 26 Lecce 29 6 7 16 36 66 25 SPAL 29 5 4 20 23 50 19 Brescia 29 4 6 19 25 58 18
Notes: Top four qualify for Champions League; fifth and sixth qualify for Europa League; bottom three relegated