Inter, only Monza in the first half. Good thing Pio is there

Inter win after a poor first half: Chivu’s first three points of the season against Monza.

Flat in the first half, brilliant in the second. On holiday at the start, at work by the end. Distracted early on, focused at the finish. Take your pick when it comes to Inter's 4-1 win over Monza, which only really took shape after the break following some unexpected suffering and some confirmations that have been there for months: Pio Esposito is dominant, Diouf unstoppable.

Chivu's side flew out of the blocks. Fast, direct and incisive. More specifically: a deep ball from goalkeeper Martinez, flicked on by Martinez the centre-forward, contested by Pio and cushioned by Diouf for Calhanoglu's final thunderbolt. The goal came after six minutes and sparked the crowd, with the remaining 40 of the first half spent keeping the worries at bay. From that moment on, in the first half, only Monza played, who also had a blessed youthfulness in the stands (Pedro Obiang on his debut as sporting director) and above all on the pitch, with two players born in 2005 (the Portuguese Varela and the Frenchman Ondoa), two in 2006 (the Italians Kouadio and Bakoune) and one in 2007 (Mout, also Italian). Gustavo Varela himself, signed for a couple of million from Benfica via Gil Vicente, toyed with Akanji before scoring to make it 1-1. It was only a moment, but a chill descended over San Siro. Everything returned to normal in the second half, the sort of normality that, and there is no need to explain why, cannot allow even a remotely balanced match between Inter and Monza. Zielinski then scored thanks to an error by goalkeeper Pizzignacco, followed by Pio Esposito with a backheel already in the running to become one of the goals of the season, and finally Bisseck with one of his trademark surging runs.