Inter started their Serie A campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory over Monza at the Giuseppe Meazza on Friday evening. The hosts took control early and never looked back, opening the scoring within six minutes through Hakan Çalhanoğlu. By the time the interval arrived they were already two goals ahead, and Monza never mounted a serious response after pulling one back just after the restart.
Çalhanoğlu struck first from close range in the sixth minute, before Gonçalo Varela doubled the lead twenty-three minutes later. The visitors should have been in trouble again before the break, but their goalkeeper managed to keep the deficit at two. Piotr Zielinski restored Inter's two-goal cushion in the forty-eighth minute, though Fabio Esposito immediately pulled one back for Monza in the fifty-fifth.
What stood out was Inter's efficiency. They created only two big chances yet converted them when it mattered, while their expected goals figure of 1.05 belied the final scoreline. Monza, by contrast, registered a higher xG of 1.23 but could not find the net beyond Esposito's effort. To be fair, the visitors did not lack for attempts, but their shots lacked precision.
The match statistics tell a familiar story. Inter dominated possession at seventy per cent and completed 628 of their 709 passes, while Monza managed 232 successful passes from 292 attempts. The hosts registered ten shots to the visitors' six, with five finding the target on either side. Inter also won nine of their fourteen aerial duels, something that often proves decisive in tight encounters.
There were three substitutions in quick succession around the hour mark as Monza attempted to change their fortunes. They brought on Mout, Colpani and Bakoune, but the game was already beyond reach. Inter responded with their own changes, bringing off Çalhanoğlu and Martínez in the fifty-fourth minute, while Bisseck's goal in the sixty-third minute effectively ended any hope of a comeback.
The result leaves Inter second in the table with six points from two games, having won both matches so far. Monza remain nineteenth with zero points from two defeats. The hosts have lost nothing from their recent form, taking points against Milan and Manchester City in friendlies before beating Real Betis and Juventus in competitive fixtures.