The hosts were left scratching their heads as to how they hadn’t made the breakthrough inside the opening 20 minutes.
A counter-attack from Inter saw Marcus Thuram and Francesco Pio Esposito link up well, leading to a pass across the face of goal that found Federico Dimarco, but his close-range effort was heroically blocked in front of the goal line by Michel Adopo.
It was a frustrating first half in general for Cristian Chivu’s side, as the Nerazzurri struggled against a resilient Cagliari defence. With half-time looming, a beautiful first touch from Inter’s Esposito put him in a great position to edge his team in front, but he was thwarted by an impressive save from Isolani goalkeeper Elia Caprile.
Chivu’s team talk was clearly an inspired one, as Inter swept their opponents away in the second half to cruise to victory.
The deadlock was broken in the 52nd minute, as Thuram slotted the ball home confidently following an exquisite pass from Dimarco.
With the jubilant home crowd still in full voice after the Frenchman’s 11th Serie A goal of the season, there was even more to cheer about just four minutes later, when Nicolo Barella rifled the ball past Caprile to double Inter’s advantage in style.
The second goal appeared to completely knock the stuffing out of the visitors, and with the match already over as a contest, Piotr Zielinski provided the icing on the cake, as his outstanding finish secured the hosts a third goal right at the death.
The victory marks Inter’s third win on the bounce as they stand on the brink of Scudetto glory. The Nerazzurri must now divert their attention to the Coppa Italia for their next match, as they host Como in the second leg of their semi-final on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Cagliari remain 16th in Serie A and six points clear of the relegation zone with the finishing straight looming large.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicolo Barella (Inter)
