Inter Milan beats Torino 3-2 in the seventh round of Serie A, full of ups and downs, with Marcus Thuram in absolute splendor. The French attacker shone bright as he scored his first hat-trick in the Inter shirt and secured three crucial points for the Nerazzurri. It was a battle of resilience for both the team and the player. Torino showed heart-a man down for the majority of it-but it just wasn't enough to avoid defeat.
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The protagonist
Marcus Thuram stole the show. The French forward had been in a bit of a goal drought, but he broke through in spectacular fashion. Via a pinpoint header from Bastoni, Thuram managed to take advantage of Maripan's red card-the one that put Torino in a tight spot at the 25-minute mark-to power home and break the deadlock. "It's always great to score at San Siro, but what matters most is the victory," said Thuram in the post-match interview.
Then, just ten minutes later, he did it again; this time, with a perfectly placed cross by Acerbi, making it 2-0. Unstoppable Thuram proved besides his technical skill, his presence in the box was lethal. However, Torino didn't wait so long to respond. Just one minute after the second goal of Thuram, Duván Zapata sent a clean shot on target to make it 2 - 1, keeping the game wide open.
Fight to the end
A man down since the 20th minute, Torino didn't back down. Following on from Zapata's goal, the team continued to press well, despite Inter's relentless pressure. In the second half, Thuram completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute, pouncing on a rebound after Milinkovic-Savic saved a header from Lautaro. The 3-1 lead seemed finally ready to seal the game, but Torino had more fight to give.
Then came the final blow for Granata, as well, when Zapata got injured and had to leave the field. But that was supposed to be the final blow. In came Vlasic at the 86th minute to convert a penalty and make it 3-2, and the last minutes just got unpredictable. It was the last heave of a team fighting to the bitter end. San Siro was boiling with tension. "It was a tough match. We didn't expect them to come back like that, but we gave everything on the field," Thuram added.
What Inter can take away from the win
Despite the win, Inter did show some defensive vulnerabilities that didn't go unnoticed by their coach Simone Inzaghi. "We need to improve in certain areas because we're paying a high price for our mistakes. The coach said after the final whistle that a game like this-where we dominated so much-should not have finished 3-2. Inzaghi hailed his team's ability to manage the frenetic pace of this season with Serie A and Champions League games popping on each other, but underlined that fine adjustments were necessary.
The win secured the important points for the Nerazzurri but, at the same time, was also a sort of alarm. The back, solid at the beginning of the season, now needs some changes to avoid the anxieties witnessed in the final minutes of this match. "We are working on the small things, but at the same time, we realize we have so much work ahead. The season will be long, and we will have to grow further and further," Inzaghi concluded.
A player to watch
Thuram's hat-trick took him to the top of the Serie A scoring charts, along with Mateo Retegui, both with seven goals. His overall display also demonstrated that he is finding his feet increasingly within the team and latching with Lautaro Martínez. "I work well with Lautaro, as was the case last season," pointed out the Frenchman. His humility beamed through with words, focusing more on the team than personal achievements: "I don't think about the top scorer standings, that doesn't concern me."
Apart from the finishing ability, Thuram showed his knack to be in the right place at the right moment and take advantage of crosses and rebounds. He is the third player in Inter's history to score three goals against Torino in a Serie A match, following in the footsteps of legends like Roberto Boninsegna and Edwin Ronald Firmani.