Taremi scores his first goal for Inter in Serie A
Inter Milan delivered a commanding performance as it cruised to a 4-0 victory at Lecce Sunday night to stay on the heels of Serie A leader Napoli.
The result kept Inter second in the standings with 50 points, three behind Napoli and with a game in hand.
With Napoli having opened up a six-point lead following its 2-1 home win against Juventus on Saturday, Inter was determined to close the gap again and started aggressively.
Six minutes into the match, Davide Frattesi opened the scoring against Lecce: always in the thick of the action and lethal in front of the goal, the midfielder is on four goals this season for a total of 12 goals in the league with Inter.
Lautaro Martinez made it 2-0 for Inter six minutes before the break.
Denzel Dumfries scored Inter’s third goal in the 57th minute. Dumfries continues to make his mark. He opened the year 2025 with a super brace in the Supercoppa Italiana against Atalanta. From there, he has hardly stopped: three goals in a row in Serie A, against Bologna, Empoli, and Lecce. That’s five goals since the beginning of the year, eight in the season. In the league, he is currently on six, a personal record.
After getting on the scoresheet in the Champions League and Supercoppa Italiana, Mehdi Taremi got his first goal for the Nerazzurri in Serie A with perfect penalty, as soon as he entered the pitch, to ensure the final 4-0 win over Lecce.
Taremi is the third Iranian player to bag in Serie A after Rahman Rezaei (six goals between 2001 and 2007 with Perugia and Livorno) and Sardar Azmoun (three goals between 2023 and 2024 with Roma).
Inter have scored 55 goals after 21 games this season: this is only the second time that the Nerazzurri have scored at least as many goals after the first 21 matches of a single top-flight league tournament (58 in 1949/50).
Lecce sits fourth from the bottom with 20 points.
‘Two-horse race’
Rafa Benitez believes the fight for the Serie A title is close to becoming a “two-horse race” as Napoli and Inter have something more than Atalanta, although La Dea still retain “a chance to get back in”.
The former Liverpool manager was particularly impressed by the Partenopei’s seven consecutive wins, a streak which included “two incredible comebacks” against Juventus and Atalanta, demonstrating the “stature” of Antonio Conte’s players and the “personality” he has managed to instill in the team, Football Italia wrote.
While the 64-year-old expects the upcoming weeks to give “interesting indications” on which team could get an edge, he suggests that Simone Inzaghi’s side and Napoli could keep the title race alive until the final stretch of the season, as even their head-to-head in early March may not determine who is favorite.
“I’m happy to see them both there, fighting for this title,” Benitez told in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“You could say it’s become a two-horse race, although Atalanta still have a chance to get back in: seven points seem like a lot, but they’re not insurmountable. However, the two teams ahead have something more, as we’ve already said.”
Napoli have inflicted Juventus their first Serie A defeat of the season by coming back from behind at the Stadio Maradona, only one week after their crucial 3-2 win at Atalanta.
“And these victories alone would give you an idea of the strength of Conte’s team and his coaching,” the coach continued.
“They’ve gone through a series of very difficult matches — first Atalanta, then Juventus — and emerged not just with two wins, but with two incredible comebacks.”
“This shows the stature of the players, the personality their coach has instilled in them, and the work behind this achievement.”
Inter, Napoli ‘devour matches’
Both sides will have to deal with dangerous opponents in the next Serie A rounds, but while such matches will tell more about how the title fight could play out, the Spanish manager believes the season is still “very long” and we will have to wait before having a “definitive verdict”.
“This competition raises the spectacle of Serie A, makes it more exciting, and keeps it vibrant as long as possible,” he observed.
“I think that in the next two rounds, we could get some very interesting indications: Napoli will go to Rome, and Inter will have the Milan derby. Then, after 15 days, there will be a big test for Inzaghi’s side at Juventus, while Napoli will return to Rome to face Lazio, a team in good form, doing very well in Europe, with consistency and already having beaten Napoli twice.”
“It’s unlikely we’ll have a definitive verdict, but it’s clear we’ll know more,” he concluded.
“I suspect that even from that match [Napoli vs Inter], we won’t reach a decision because the season is very long, and the conditions can change,” he concluded.