Inter 3-0 Sampdoria: Barella scores again as hosts maintain good form

Nicolo Barella maintained his impressive goalscoring form as Inter eased to a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria on Saturday to make it four Serie A wins in a row.

Simone Inzaghi's side have put their early-season struggles behind them with this their seventh match without defeat in all competitions, six of those ending in victory.

Midfielder Barella rounded off a route-one move to double Inter's advantage at San Siro before half-time after Stefan de Vrij had opened the scoring with a header.

Inter, who brought on Romelu Lukaku for his first league appearance since August, added another goal through a superb Joaquin Correa solo effort to seal an emphatic victory.

De Vrij sent a bullet header past Emil Audero with 22 minutes played for his first goal of the season after being picked out by Hakan Calhanoglu from a corner.

Inter continued to dominate and had a second goal just before the interval when Barella controlled a long pass from Alessandro Bastoni and powered a shot past Audero.

Inzaghi introduced the returning Lukaku and Correa in the second half and it took the latter just five minutes to add his name to the scoresheet against his former side.

Argentina international Correa carried the ball from one penalty area to the other and curled in a third goal for the hosts to round off the scoring.

What does it mean? Inter's good form continues

Inzaghi appeared to be under serious pressure less than a month ago when losing to Udinese and Roma, but his side have since taken 12 points from the past 12 on offer.

Inter have now won their past six home league meetings with Sampdoria, making this their best-such streak since between 1984 and 1990 when also winning six in a row.

Sampdoria had won back-to-back games, but they did not really lay a finger on their opponents, with their attempts on target coming when three goals down.

Barella's latest belter

Italy international Barella almost took off the net with his thumping drive, with that his sixth goal in 16 matches this season – two more than he managed in 48 games last season.

He is only the fourth Inter midfielder to score in three straight Serie A games since 1994-95, alongside Esteban Cambiasso (in 2008), Ivan Perisic (2016) and Calhanoglu (2021).

Edin's Sampdoria struggles

Dzeko has scored six times against Sampdoria in Serie A, but he is now scoreless against them in eight home matches – only against Roma (12) does he have a longer barren run.

The Bosnia international had two shots on target in his 68 minutes on the field in this latest encounter – no player on the field managed more – but there was no way through.

What's next?

Inter conclude their Champions League group campaign at Bayern Munich on Tuesday, before then travelling to Juventus. Sampdoria host Fiorentina next weekend.