Alexis Sanchez scored and was sent off in his first start for Inter Milan as the Serie A leaders maintained their perfect record with a 3-1 win at Sampdoria on Saturday.
The victory restored Inter Milan's two-point lead over Juventus at the top of the table ahead of a meeting between the sides at San Siro next Sunday, while Sampdoria are rooted to the bottom of the table after taking three points from the opening six rounds.
In a meeting of the top and bottom sides in the league, Inter got off to a fast start as Sensi’s shot from distance took a big deflection off Sanchez on the way in and the goal was awarded to the midfielder despite the Chilean celebrating it as his own.
Sanchez needed only two more minutes to open his account for the club as he latched on to a mis-hit Sensi effort to slot home from close range.
However, things took an ugly turn for the 30-year-old when he was shown a second yellow card for diving inside the box a minute into the second half, meaning he will be suspended for the clash with Juventus.
TOP OF THE LOG: Inter Milan's players celebrate their victory at the end of the Italian Serie A soccer match against Sampdoria. Picture: Luca Zennaro/AP.
The incident spurred the home side into life and they were given hope when Jankto span in the box and fired a low shot into the bottom corner after 55 minutes.
However, their rally was short-lived as Gagliardini pounced on an Emil Audero parry to bundle in a shot from close range and condemn Eusebio Di Francesco to his fifth defeat in six games as Sampdoria coach.
👋 | GOOD NIGHT ALL
— Inter (@Inter_en) September 28, 2019
Inter 4⃣-0⃣ Lecce
Cagliari 1⃣-2⃣ Inter
Inter 1⃣-0⃣ Udinese
Milan 0⃣-2⃣ Inter
Inter 1⃣-0⃣ Lazio
Sampdoria 1⃣-3⃣ Inter
THE DREAM START 😍🖤💙 pic.twitter.com/v2ak8z6GxG
Atalanta strengthened their grip on third place with a resounding 4-1 win at Sassuolo.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side put the result beyond doubt before halftime thanks to two goals from Alejandro Gomez and strikes from Robin Gosens and Duvan Zapata, while Gregoire Defrel netted a consolation for the visitors after the break.
Atalanta occupy third place on 13 points but Napoli, Cagliari and Torino are behind them on nine points and can reduce the gap in Sunday's fixtures.
Reuters