Welcomed onto the San Siro pitch by a Torino guard of honour, newly-crowned Scudetto winners Inter kicked off with a 20th title now under their belt following a satisfying victory over rivals AC Milan on Monday.
Simone Inzaghi’s side confirmed top spot with five games to spare - the joint-earliest in SA history - yet a three-figure points total was still in their sights as they felt their way into the contest.
Looking for a first win over Inter since January 2019, Torino were the side creating the better opportunities in the opening exchanges, stinging the palms of Yann Sommer via Ricardo Rodriguez and Duvan Zapata, before the latter nodded a deep cross narrowly wide of the post.
Unphased, San Siro’s Curva Nord were in full voice during a rather subdued first half of football, with Inter’s best chance coming from Hakan Calhanoglu’s rifled effort that was inadvertently deflected wide by Marcus Thuram.
It was perhaps par for the course for Il Toro, who have now been level at half-time in 25 of their 34 league fixtures this season, yet within five minutes of the restart, the complexion of the game had changed drastically.
Originally awarded a yellow card for bundling over Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Adrien Tameze was eventually sent off following an on-field review for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Shortly after that dismissal, the Nerazzurri made the most of their numerical advantage, breaking the deadlock with a fierce strike of a bouncing ball from Calhanoglu to leave Vanja Milinkovic-Savic with no chance.
Just three minutes later the Turkey international struck again, this time from the spot as he fired into the top corner after Thuram was upended in the box.
Those quickfire goals seemingly knocked the stuffing out of the 10-man visitors, who rarely troubled Inter as the game drifted towards full-time.
Eight points adrift of a European qualification spot, Torino’s hopes of a late surge look to be gone as their search for a first top-flight win at Inter since April 2016 goes on.
As for the hosts, a victory here is the perfect start to the day, and having collected their medals after the whistle, the Nerazzurri will now set off on an open-top bus tour as their celebrations continue.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan)
