Hakan Calhanoglu admits this is the best period of his career and warns after the 5-1 win away to Monza that ‘it is tough for anyone to beat’ Inter.
2023/2024 Serie A
1-5
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
4' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
6' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
7' Highlight from Monza vs Inter
10' Highlight from Monza vs Inter
12' GOAL! Monza 0-1 Inter (Hakan Çalhanoğlu)
14' GOAL! Monza 0-2 Inter (Lautaro Martínez)
22' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
30' Highlight from Monza vs Inter
41' Highlight from Monza vs Inter
43' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
45' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
59' Red Card! Palladino sent off
60' GOAL! Monza 0-3 Inter (Hakan Çalhanoğlu)
66' Match Event for Monza vs Inter
69' GOAL! Monza 1-3 Inter (Matteo Pessina)
75' Highlight from Monza vs Inter
84' GOAL! Monza 1-4 Inter (Lautaro Martínez)
GOAL! Monza 1-5 Inter (Marcus Thuram)
Match Report
Hakan Calhanoglu admits this is the best period of his career and warns after the 5-1 win away to Monza that ‘it is tough for anyone to beat’ Inter.
It was largely one-way traffic in Monza, as the Serie A leaders emerged with a comfortable 5-1 result.
Both Lautaro Martinez and Calhanoglu bagged a brace each, while Matteo Pessina got a consolation goal for the hosts before the late Marcus Thuram strike.
“This was the right response to criticism. A game like the one against Verona can happen, but the important thing is to concentrate on the next test,” Calhanoglu told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had time to recover and we showed in the first 20 minutes what we wanted to do.”
The victory puts the pressure back on Juventus, who will not play until Tuesday against Sassuolo and know they must win to close the gap.
“I do not look at what the others are doing. They do their work, we do ours. We will always try to improve and Monza have quality players, but if we play like this, it is tough for anyone to beat us.”
Inter’s next test is the Supercoppa Italiana, which they won last season in the traditional format, but it has now changed to a Final Four tournament.
Napoli–Fiorentina is the first semi-final on Thursday, with Inter-Lazio on Friday and the winners go head-to-head on Monday, with all those games played at the Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh.
“We fly out on Tuesday and we want to defend the Supercoppa, but we’ll see what happens.”
Calhanoglu had never previously scored a Serie A brace, while he has already matched his personal best of nine Serie A goals this season, achieved with Milan in 2019-20. So is this the best period of his career?
“We can say yes, I have improved, I really like the new role and will always try to give my best for my team.”
Line-ups
Monza XI: Caldirola, D'Ambrosio, Gagliardini, Pessina, Patrick Ciurria, Pedro Pereira, Dany Mota, Andrea Colpani, Alessandro Sorrentino, Warren Bondo, Valentín Carboni
Subs: Donati, Eugenio Lamanna, Mari, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, Izzo, Mirko Maric, G. Kyriakopoulos, Stefano Gori, Davide Bettella, Samuele Birindelli, Lorenzo Colombo, Maldini, Samuele Vignato
Inter XI: Sommer, Darmian, Mkhitaryan, De Vrij, Calhanoglu, Dimarco, Barella, Thuram, Pavard, Lautaro, Bastoni
Subs: Sanchez, Arnautovic, Acerbi, Klaassen, Raffaele Di Gennaro, Sensi, Emil Audero, Dumfries, Frattesi, Yann Bisseck, Carlos Augusto, Tajon Buchanan, Kristjan Asllani