RIYADH: Inter Milan will face Napoli in the Italian Super Cup final after comfortably beating Lazio 3-0 in Friday’s clash in Riyadh.
Goals in each half from Marcus Thuram and Davide Frattesi and Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty four minutes after the break were enough for Serie A leaders Inter to get past Lazio at Al-Awwal Park.
Simone Inzaghi’s team, the current holders, will now face Napoli on Monday night at the same stadium after the Italian champions beat Fiorentina 3-0 on Thursday.
“It was a great performance, we had a lot of fun out there, like we haven’t for a while,” said Nicolo Barella to Mediaset.
“Everyone wanted the ball today, we had fun and that is important... it’s taken a lot of work to reach this level of quality.”
Inzaghi now has a chance to win the Super Cup for a record-breaking fifth time in his career.
A win for Inter on Monday would also give them a third straight Super Cup victory, making them the second team to complete the hat-trick after local rivals AC Milan between 1992 and 1994.
“We approached the game well, the boys played really well. We’ve got to the final which is what we wanted, now we need to recover in time for the match with Napoli which will be very difficult,” said Inzaghi.
Inter have a tight title race with Juventus and the Champions League last-16 to contend with in the coming weeks but Inzaghi brought out the big guns to shoot down Lazio.
An uninterested-looking Lazio barely had a kick in a one-sided contest which showed why Inter are favorites to take the Scudetto from Napoli come May.
Inter created a huge number of chances while Barella and Lautaro Martinez both had efforts hit the bar in a dominant display.
Lazio meanwhile will head back to Rome after having not created an opening in front of a largely tepid crowd in the Saudi Arabian capital.
Napoli’s win over Fiorentina was played out in front of a two-thirds empty ground and while Inter and Lazio had a bigger crowd there was limited enthusiasm from the stands.
This season’s Super Cup in the first to feature four teams, with the top two in last season’s Serie A and the two Italian Cup finalists contesting the tournament.
Inter breeze past Lazio and into Italian Super Cup final
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Inter breeze past Lazio and into Italian Super Cup final
PSG move top with nervy 3-2 win at bottom club Metz
- PSG are on 36 points, two ahead of Lens who host Nice on Sunday
- PSG struggled to create any early chances against Metz who have the worst defensive record
LONGEVILLE-LES-METZ, France: Paris St. Germain moved provisionally top of Ligue 1 with a 3-2 win at bottom club Metz on Saturday where the champions twice had a two-goal cushion cut and Goncalo Ramos, Quentin Ndjantou and Desire Doue were all on the scoresheet for the visitors.
PSG are on 36 points, two ahead of Lens who host Nice on Sunday while Metz remain bottom of the standings with 11 points.
PSG struggled to create any early chances against Metz who have the worst defensive record in the league this season, conceding 34 goals in their 15 previous games, but finally found a way through in the 31st minute.
Lee Kang-in played a one-two from a short corner before floating the ball toward the six-yard area where Ramos steered his header into the bottom corner.
PSG scored their second eight minutes later. Ibrahim Mbaye played a pinpoint pass across the box for Ndjantou to slide in and net his first goal for the club. The 18-year-old became PSG’s 17th different goalscorer in Ligue 1 this campaign.
Ramos wasted a gilt-edged chance to score another goal minutes earlier when his touch let him down as he tried to round the keeper and, out of nowhere, three minutes before the break Metz pulled one back.
Habib Diallo had a shot blocked in the box and when the ball came out to Jessy Deminguet he smacked a half-volley into the roof of the net to set up a more intriguing second half.
Metz keeper Jonathan Fischer denied Ndjantou, Ramos and Lee as PSG looked to kill off any hopes of a Metz comeback after halftime but the hosts almost found an equalizer before the hour mark.
Diallo volleyed narrowly wide and moments later, PSG keeper Matvey Safonov got down well to parry away a Koffi Kouao strike.
But, just when the hosts were enjoying their best period, PSG launched a counter attack from the resulting corner which sent substitute Doue through on goal and he made no mistake with a composed finish in the 63rd minute.
Mbaye’s shot rocked the crossbar as PSG began to turn the screw and Fischer made another fine save from Doue’s ferocious strike.
METZ MOMENT OF MAGIC
Metz refused to bow and nine minutes from time the home side created a beautiful goal to set up a nervy ending for the visitors.
Giorgi Tsitaishvili made a bursting run with the ball into the box from the wing and although he momentarily lost possession, Gauthier Hein played a clever backheeled pass back to Tsitaishvili who rifled his shot into the far corner.
PSG held on, but Metz will take satisfaction from their performance and if they can produce this type of display against lesser sides, they might be able to avoid a swift return to Ligue 2.
