Inter Milan made a winning start to their Serie A title defence with a 4-1 victory over newly promoted Monza at the San Siro, securing their fourth win in the last five head-to-head meetings.
Inter are aiming to win successive Scudettos for the first time since José Mourinho’s treble-winning side of 2009/10, and they made the perfect start by taking the lead inside six minutes.
Stepping into the right wing-back position vacated by the departed Denzel Dumfries, Andy Diouf laid the ball off to the edge of the area, where Hakan Çalhanoğlu arrived to unleash a powerful strike that left Monza goalkeeper Semuel Pizzignacco with no chance. It was Çalhanoğlu’s fourth goal in his last four head-to-head appearances.
The goal marked the eighth consecutive home league match in which Inter have scored first. However, Monza responded strongly and were rewarded just before the half-hour mark with an impressive equaliser.
With Manuel Akanji tight behind him, Gustavo Varela showed great strength to turn away from the Inter defender before firing a low shot into the bottom corner. It was his third goal in two matches since joining Monza.
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Inter struggled to create much before half-time but were gifted a second goal within three minutes of the restart. Pizzignacco came off his line to cut out Federico Dimarco’s cross, but his weak parry fell straight to Piotr Zieliński, who cleverly lifted his effort over the stranded goalkeeper and into the empty net.
The Nerazzurri grew increasingly comfortable after regaining the lead and soon extended their advantage. Diouf’s cutback was met by a superb flick from Francesco Pio Esposito, who sent the ball into the net.
Monza’s resistance was completely broken when Esposito held up the ball for Yann Bisseck, who ran onto it before firing a left-footed effort into the net for his first home league goal since May 2025.
Akanji later headed against the crossbar as Inter threatened to add even more to their tally, but the champions ultimately settled for four. Cristian Chivu also handed debuts to new signings John Stones and Aleksandar Stanković, the son of club legend Dejan Stanković.
For Monza, it was a difficult return to the top flight, with their opening match ending in defeat at the San Siro, just as their previous top-flight campaign had.
