Thuram’s diving, strong header near the far post from Federico Dimarco’s cross gave Inter Milan, a finalist for the Champions League, the lead and helped the Nerazzurri continue their unbeaten start with a dominant 4-0 victory over Fiorentina on Sunday.
Thuram’s diving, strong header near the far post from Federico Dimarco’s cross gave Inter Milan, a finalist for the Champions League, the lead and helped the Nerazzurri continue their unbeaten start with a dominant 4-0 victory over Fiorentina on Sunday.
Marcus Thuram smiled as he stood tall with his feet shoulder-width apart, hands cupped around his ears to better hear the noise of the San Siro throng.
Thuram wanted to savor his first goal in Serie A, the league where his father Lilian won numerous championships as a star defense.
Thuram was just getting started, it turned out.
Thuram assisted Lautaro Martinez for Inter’s second goal after being a part of both of Inter’s goals in Monday’s 2-0 victory at Cagliari. He also earned the penalty that Hakan Calhanoglu converted for Inter’s third goal after drawing the foul.
“I liked the way he played in the other games, and I was hoping he would score,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said of Thuram. “I’m extremely happy.”
With one more deft touch, Lautaro added another goal by deflecting Juan Cuadrado’s free kick, giving him the league’s most this year with five goals.
Inter joined city rival AC Milan as the only teams to have won all three of their matches so far — with the Milan derby coming up next on Sept. 16 after the international break.
It’s the first time since 1966 that Inter has opened with three straight victories and three consecutive clean sheets.
Juventus and Lecce each moved two points behind the leaders with wins over Empoli and Salernitana, respectively.
Thuram, who came on as a substitute for France in the World Cup final defeat to Argentina last year, is doing just fine as a replacement for the departed Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko as Lautaro’s strike partner.
Thuram scored the game’s first goal in the 24th minute, and his assist for Lautaro to cap off a counterattack in the 53rd minute led to a penalty after goalie Oliver Christensen fouled Lautaro.
Lewandowski’s late penalty gives Barcelona a 2-1 victory at Osasuna in La Liga.
Thuram, 26, left Borussia Mönchengladbach and signed for Inter on a free transfer after electing not to extend his contract. He committed to the Nerazzurri for five years.
With a victory over Rapid Vienna on Thursday, Fiorentina advanced to the Conference League group stage. Despite this, they rarely presented a threat.
JUVENTUS WINS
Juventus won 2-0 at Empoli with goals from Danilo and Federico Chiesa — another striker whose father (Enrico) played in the Italian league.
Dusan Vlahovic wasted a chance to increase Juve’s advantage when his poor penalty kick was saved by Etrit Berisha.
Danilo, who took over as Juventus captain this season, scored by kicking in a loose ball amid traffic following a corner.
Chiesa finally sealed it when he got around the goalkeeper and regained his balance in time to deposit the ball into an empty net.
