Business Day (Nigeria)

Inter beat Torino to continue Serie A title party

-

INTER Milan celebrated the Serie A title in front of their home fans on Sunday with a straightfo­rward 2-0 win over 10-man Torino which will be followed by a parade and city centre party.

Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half double sealed the three points at the San Siro, where on Monday Inter won their 20th league championsh­ip as the away team in a thrilling Milan derby.

The 75,000 fans present at Sunday’s on-pitch procession will be able to follow their team around Milan as Inter go on an open-topped bus parade which will finish in front of thousands at the Italian city’s iconic Piazza del Duomo.

Calhanoglu sealing the win was appropriat­e as the Turkey captain has been key to Inter’s charge to the title, becoming one of Europe’s best deep-lying playmakers since being signed from AC Milan three years ago.

The 30-year-old is a hate figure for Milan fans but he has rubbed his former fans’ faces in it this season. With Euro 2024 looming on the horizon it has probably been the best of his career.

His brace, a fine first-time strike in the 56th minute and a penalty four minutes later took his all-competitio­ns goal tally for the season to 15 and extended Inter’s lead on second-placed Milan to a whopping 19 points.

Calhanoglu has not scored that many goals since netting 17 as a teenager playing for Karlsruher in Germany’s third tier.

Inter were however helped by Adrien Tameze being sent off in the 49th minute for bundling over Henrikh Mkhitaryan, referee Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi overturnin­g her original decision to book Tameze after a check at the pitch-side monitor.

And Ferrieri Caputi had a much easier decision to make when Matteo Lovato brought down Marcus Thuram, allowing Calhanoglu to slam home from the spot and turn attention to the post-match festivitie­s.

 ?? ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria