MILAN — Davide Frattesi was given a rare starting opportunity and made the most of it by scoring his first two goals in a match, propelling Inter Milan to a commanding 3-0 victory over Empoli, who played with ten men, in Serie A on Wednesday.
Frattesi, who previously spent a season on loan at Empoli five years ago, found the back of the net twice in the second half, with Lautaro Martínez adding another goal to seal the win. The momentum shifted during the match when Empoli’s defender, Saba Goglichidze, received a red card in the 31st minute for a dangerous tackle.
With this victory, Inter Milan maintained its position in second place, now trailing Serie A leaders Napoli by four points. Napoli secured a 2-0 win against AC Milan on Tuesday, and a key showdown between Inter and Napoli is set to occur at San Siro on November 10.
The Nerazzurri were eager to recover from a disappointing draw in the Derby d’Italia, where they conceded a late equalizer against Juventus, finishing the match 4-4 despite earlier leading 4-2.
Inter was aware that breaking through Empoli’s defense would present a challenge. The Tuscan team started the season strong, remaining unbeaten for the first six rounds before narrowly losing to Lazio and Napoli. Additionally, they had conceded only one goal at home up to this point in the season.
Both teams had opportunities, with Matteo Darmian’s goal for Inter being ruled out by the video assistant referee due to a handball incident. However, VAR played a crucial role in Inter’s favor when Goglichidze was initially shown a yellow card for his reckless tackle on Marcus Thuram; after a review, the referee upgraded it to a red card.
Inter finally broke the deadlock five minutes into the second half. Darmian directed a header from an Alessandro Bastoni cross towards Frattesi, who skillfully curled the ball into the top corner of the net.
Frattesi increased his tally in the 67th minute after Lautaro Martínez deftly redirected a Nicolò Barella through-ball to him, allowing Frattesi to slot it into the bottom left corner.
Lautaro then added his name to the scoresheet in the 79th minute, capitalizing on another assist from Barella. This marked the Argentine forward’s 134th goal for Inter Milan, making him the club’s highest-scoring foreign player in history.
Looking ahead, Inter will face Venezia, who managed a comeback from two goals down to defeat ten-man Udinese 3-2, thereby moving off the bottom of the league table. Meanwhile, Juventus was scheduled to play against Parma later on Wednesday, and Atalanta had a match against Monza.