A pair of stunning second-half strikes from Denzel Dumfries (28) catapulted Inter Milan to a 2-0 Supercoppa Italiana semi-final win over Atalanta, meaning the Nerazzurri will get the chance to become the first side to win the trophy four times in a row in Monday’s final.
Although used to the roaring terraces of the San Siro, Inter’s players were clearly unaffected by the lack of atmosphere at the home of Al Nassr, and went on the attack from the first whistle. In fact, a triple chance was spurned by Lautaro Martinez during the first minute, setting the stage for the Argentine to pepper the Atalanta goal with a myriad of attempts throughout the first half.
Marco Carnesecchi was in sensational form though, showing fantastic reflexes to deny Martinez’s close-range effort after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s free-kick, before thwarting him again as part of a double save. Although clearly not holding much support among those in attendance in Saudi Arabia, Atalanta are a force in their own right and sit top of Serie A after a recent 11-match league winning streak.
Their best chance of the half came when Alessandro Bastoni inadvertently headed straight to Giorgio Scalvini, who couldn’t nod past Yann Sommer from just a few yards out despite being completely unmarked. La Dea grew stronger from there and were largely untroubled before the break aside from a couple more wayward efforts from the wasteful Martínez.
Inter required someone else to step up in front of goal, and they only had to wait a matter of minutes after the interval for just that. Yann Bisseck headed down for Dumfries in the area, who produced a stunning overhead kick into Carnesecchi’s bottom cor
ner. Gian Piero Gasperini introduced the likes of Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere in an attempt to respond, but the rampant Dumfries had other ideas on the hour mark.
Mehdi Taremi’s poor touch on the edge of the area actually caught the Atalanta defence off guard, allowing the ball to roll into the path of the Dutchman, who rocketed in off the crossbar.
Martinez then failed to beat Carnesecchi to put the result beyond doubt, and Atalanta were unfortunate not to halve the deficit when Ederson’s goal was ruled out for offside.
There was ultimately to be no consolation for the Supercoppa debutants, meaning Inter cruised to a fifth successive victory without conc
eding. While it's only Atalanta's second defeat in 20 matches, La Dea are now without a win in 14 against Inter, with Simone Inzaghi's side victorious in each of the last seven.The eight-time Supercoppa champions will now face either AC Milan or Juventus in the final, as they look to equal the latter's record nine titles.Flashscore Man of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan)Check out the match stats here.
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