Player ratings: Sassuolo 0-5 Inter: Dimarco on MVP form
The table-topping Inter took another step towards the Serie A title with a dominant 5-0 victory away against Sassuolo on Sunday evening in a game that included a hat-trick of assists from left wing-back Federico Dimarco.
Five different players ended up on the scoresheet at the Mapei Stadium: Yann Bisseck and Marcus Thuram gave the travelling Nerazzurri the lead at the interval, which was followed by second-half strikes from Lautaro Martinez, Manuel Akanji and Luis Henrique.
With rivals Milan not involved in league action this week, Inter currently find themselves eight points clear at the top of the Serie A table after 24 matches.
You can see how the action from today’s game unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
Sassuolo 0-5 Inter: Player ratings!
Sassuolo: Muric 4; Walukiewicz 4, Idzes 4, Muharemovic 4.5, Doig 5 (Garcia 5.5); Thorstvedt 5.5, Matic 4, Kone 5.5; Berardi 5 (Coulibaly 5.5), Pinamonti 5 (Nzola 5.5), Lauriente 5.5 (Lipani 5).
Best Sassuolo player: Kristjan Thorstvedt 5.5 – Slim pickings on a night to forget for the Neroverdi. The Dane was unlucky to have his goal ruled out for a very tight offside when Inter were just two goals up. Otherwise, not a great display, like the majority of his teammates.
Coach: Fabio Grosso 4 – Sassuolo started fairly brightly at the Mapei Stadium, but Grosso will be disappointed with what unfolded from there on. Sassuolo were particularly poor at defending set-pieces: They looked like conceding at almost every corner, free-kick and even throw-ins in the final third.
Inter: Sommer 6; Bisseck 7, Akanji 7. Bastoni 6.5 (Darmian 6); L.Henrique 7, Sucic 6.5, Zielinski 6 (Frattesi 6), Mkhitaryan 6.5 (Diouf 6.5), Dimarco 9; Thuram (Bonny 6), L.Martinez (Esposito 6).
Best Inter player: Federico Dimarco 9 – What a fantastic season the Inter left wing-back is having. There are few players in the world better at delivering the ball into the area off the left flank. Three assists for him today: No defender has ever recorded as many assists as him at this stage of the season (11). The man is having an MVP-calibre season from wing-back.
Coach: Cristian Chivu 9 – A clean sheet and a five-goal display on the road: It doesn’t get much better than that. Sassuolo had been in decent form heading into this game as well, and the Nerazzurri swept them aside with ease.