Serie A | Verona 0-5 Inter: Thuram and Correa inspire dominant manita | OneFootball

Inter demolished sorry Hellas Verona with five goals in the first half, as Marcus Thuram scored twice, Tucu Correa contributed a goal and two assists on his first start since 2022, Stefan de Vrij and Yann Bisseck completed the rout.

Hakan Calhanoglu returned from international duty with a muscular issue and Lautaro Martinez had flu symptoms, so Kristjan Asllani and Tucu Correa got rare starts, with returning Carlos Augusto. Hellas missed Ondrej Duda, Diego Coppola, Juan Manuel Cruz and Martin Frese, but Pawel Dawidowicz was back in a switch to the three-man defence.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

Verona had the first big chance at the fifth minute, Yann Sommer fumbling a Flavius Daniliuc glancing header on a free kick, then moments later Casper Tengstedt thumped the frame of the goal on the Jackson Tchatchoua pull-back from the right.

Inter hit back immediately, as first Correa’s header bounced off the bar from close range, then Carlos Augusto hit the side-netting when running onto the Alessandro Bastoni ball over the top.

Francesco Acerbi went off injured and was replaced by Stefan de Vrij, who within minutes had helped set up the opening goal.

Correa’s dummy let the pass through for Marcus Thuram, who immediately laid it off for Tucu to continue the run and place a delightful dinked finish over Lorenzo Montipò. Correa had made his Inter debut at the Bentegodi in August 2021 and scored two goals here.

Tucu continued his impressive performance by returning the favour with an assist, his through ball sending Thuram clear to draw out the goalkeeper and deposit into the empty net.

epa11736470 Inter’s Joaquin Correa scores the goal 0-1 during the Italian Serie A soccer match Hellas Verona vs Inter FC at Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium in Verona, Italy, 23 November 2024. EPA-EFE/EMANUELE PENNACCHIO

The Hellas offside trap failed completely again moments later, this time Thuram beating Montipò one-on-one after Domagoj Bradaric was caught out of position on the Bastoni assist.

Verona visibly fell to pieces and Inter took full advantage, going 4-0 up on the half-hour mark. Asllani’s corner was not cleared properly, so he pulled back from the right as De Vrij swept in first time from 14 yards.

It got worse for Hellas, as before half-time Yann Bisseck gathered from Correa with his back to goal inside the area, turned Dawidowicz too easily and while falling managed to scoop the finish into the net.

Suat Serdar’s effort was deflected inches wide after a great turn between two by Reda Belahyane.

Despite making four changes at half-time, Verona still nearly conceded the sixth goal straight away when Piotr Zielinski’s volley stung the goalkeeper’s gloves.

Inter moved to a four-man defence to sit on their huge lead from the hour mark, while Tajon Buchanan also made his season debut after a fracture in training with Canada.

Correa could’ve completed a brace in stoppages, but was again denied by the woodwork.

Correa 17 (I), Thuram 22, 25 (I), De Vrij 31 (I), Bisseck 41 (I)