Cagliari aimed to recover from their narrow loss to Venezia, but Inter’s arrival posed a daunting challenge, with the Scudetto contenders boasting an 11-match unbeaten league streak coming into the contest.
To their credit, the Isolani held firm early on, even as Lautaro Martínez squandered a golden chance from the edge of the six-yard box, misdirecting Nicolò Barella’s pinpoint cross with a header that grazed the top of the bar.
Despite Davide Nicola’s men testing the visitors’ resolve with swift counters at the other end, and Barella’s thunderous strike forcing a spectacular save from Simone Scuffet, neither side managed to break the deadlock before the interval.
As a result, Cagliari narrowly avoided trailing at half-time for a league-high 10th time, while Inter preserved their status as Serie A’s only team yet to be behind at the break this campaign.
Inter wasted little time after the restart, shattering Cagliari’s resistance when Alessandro Bastoni guided Barella’s cross into the far corner with a looping header beyond Scuffet’s reach.
Nicola introduced a pair of fresh legs around the hour mark, but it proved rather futile as Martínez found the net against his favourite Serie A opponents for the 10th time, effortlessly guiding Barella’s precise delivery from the right flank into the back of the net.
Mateusz Wieteska then handled the ball inside the area, allowing Hakan Çalhanoğlu to bury the ensuing penalty with aplomb into the left corner.
From there, Simone Inzaghi and his men coasted to full-time, wrapping up 2024 on a high note by claiming their 27th win this calendar year. The reigning champions are now unbeaten in 12 consecutive top-flight outings, having last fallen to rivals AC Milan back in September.
In stark contrast, Cagliari linger in the drop zone after suffering their 10th loss this campaign, with five of those now coming in succession – marking their worst losing streak since February.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan)
See a summary of the match here
