Inter cruise past Parma to reclaim Serie A summit with 3-0 victory

Inter moved to the top of Serie A with a 3-0 win over Parma, avoiding the two-goal deficit that had troubled them in several recent matches.

Petar Sucic, Hakan Calhanoglu and Marcus Thuram scored for Inter in the sixth round of the league season, with all three goals arriving in the opening 31 minutes.

Sucic opened the scoring in the 13th minute, powering a shot into the net from inside the penalty area. Calhanoglu doubled Inter’s advantage five minutes later from the penalty spot.

Thuram completed the scoring in the 31st minute after breaking forward before sending a low shot past the Parma goalkeeper.

The victory ended a run of matches in which Inter had conceded twice before recovering to draw or win. They came from two goals down to beat Napoli and Udinese, drew 2-2 with Roma and lost 2-1 to Real Madrid.

Inter’s latest goals also continued their unusually wide spread of scorers in Serie A. Ten different players have now scored for the club in the competition, the joint-highest total in Europe’s five major leagues alongside Brighton.

Thuram’s goal was his sixth for Inter at home in successive league matches. That made him the fifth player to score for the club in more than five consecutive home games during the era of three points for a win.

He follows Christian Vieri, who scored in 11 successive home matches, Romelu Lukaku, who did so in seven, and Ronaldo Nazario and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who each scored in six.

Djed Spence made his first appearance for Inter since joining the club last summer. The defender had been unavailable while recovering from injury.

The match was also Alberto Gilardino’s first in charge of Parma after he was appointed to replace Spanish coach Carlos Cuesta.

Inter’s result took them to 16 points and first place in the Serie A table. Parma remain on four points in 17th position.