Inter blow their cross-town rivals away with dominant display in Milan Derby
The teams entered this match having both won their first three games of a Serie A campaign for the first time since 1971/72, although there was a familiar sense of woe for the Rossoneri against their Inter.
A mere five minutes in, Thuram did brilliantly to get behind Theo Hernandez and Malick Thiaw before finding Federico Dimarco, whose cross-shot was turned in by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian could have made things even worse for Stefano Pioli soon after but headed wide from Dimarco’s inviting cross.
Milan were eventually able to make more of a mark on the match with Hernandez and Rafael Leao offering indications of the threat they could pose down the left, although Hernandez’s mazy run culminating in his shot dribbling marginally wide was the closest either of them got.
They and everybody else in the San Siro was then forced to watch on in awe as Thuram stole the limelight in his first Derby della Madonnina.
The Frenchman collected Denzel Dumfries’ pass that had forced him wide before cutting inside Malick Thiaw and sending a sensational strike into the top corner.
There was finally something for Milan to celebrate shortly before the hour mark, as Olivier Giroud played a superbly weighted pass to release Leao behind Matteo Darmian, and the winger coolly finished to become the first man to beat Yann Sommer this term despite the Switzerland international getting a touch on his shot.
They weren’t able to build on that, though, with Lautaro Martinez teeing up Mkhitaryan for a strike that flicked off Thiaw and beyond Mike Maignan to restore Inter’s two-goal lead.
Martinez showed his speed of thought again to nip in ahead of Hernandez and win a penalty that Hakan Calhanoglu confidently converted.
A memorable win was capped off even further by Davide Frattesi prodding home his first Nerazzurri goal in the final minutes as Inter continued their perfect start to the campaign and reclaimed top spot.
There will be extra satisfaction from emphatically inflicting Milan’s first defeat of the campaign.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Inter)