Inter clinched their third win in four games as they comfortably beat Salernitana 2-0 at San Siro.
Simone Inzaghi had come under pressure after a shaky start to the season saw Inter lose five of their first 10 matches, but they are now unbeaten in four and built on Wednesday's promising 3-3 draw away to Barcelona with three points in Serie A.
Lautaro Martinez's long-range effort gave Inter a first-half lead on Sunday, and although the hosts struggled to add to that initially, Salernitana rarely looked capable of posing much of a threat.
A brilliant Nicolo Barella goal put Inter in complete control just before the hour, ensuring the Nerazzurri moved to within two points of the top four for at least a few hours.
The visitors' resistance lasted just 13 minutes as Martinez's 25-yard strike bobbled awkwardly on its way past Luigi Sepe and into the bottom-left corner.
Edin Dzeko headed agonisingly wide as Inter looked to put the game beyond Salernitana, before Sepe kept out Milan Skriniar's powerful close-range effort.
But Inter's best opportunity to double the lead before the break came on the stroke of half-time – Martinez missed the ball as he tried to backheel Denzel Dumfries' pass goalwards, with Sepe saving a point-blank header when the Argentinian was offered a fortunate reprieve.
Boulaye Dia forced Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana into action early in the second half, but the points were wrapped up four minutes later.
Barella brought Hakan Calhanoglu's pinpoint pass down exquisitely in the box before flicking the ball past a defender and drilling left-footed into the bottom-right corner to seal a routine triumph.
What does it mean? – Inzaghi building positivity again
It was not so long ago that Inzaghi looked in real danger of losing his job. He certainly is not out of the woods yet, but things are going in the right direction.
With three wins and a draw – which itself was very nearly a victory – in the past 12 days, Inter are beginning to look a little more like their usual selves.
While this may not have been a spectacular performance, you have to credit the professionalism in Inter's display. Salernitana hardly threatened at all.
Calhanoglu pulls the strings
Much of what was good about Inter's performance stemmed from Calhanoglu. The Turkey international's four key passes led the match, and he also got an assist for Barella's goal with that wonderful long-range pass into the box.
Piatek virtually anonymous
Former Milan forward Krzysztof Piatek was particularly quiet for Salernitana. He probably was not helped by being seemingly shunted out to the right, but even then he might have been a bit more involved. The Poland international was unsurprisingly withdrawn just after Inter's second goal, having had just one attempt, though he did get it on target at least.
What's next?
Inter go to Fiorentina on Saturday, while Salernitana host Spezia the same day.
Unai Emery extends Aston Villa contract
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has committed to the club until at least 2027 after his contract was extended.
The Spaniard’s existing deal still had two years to run but he has agreed terms for an additional 12 months, the PA news agency understands.
Villa are also keen to sit down with the 52-year-old in the summer and discuss a new longer-term contract.
Emery has done an impressive job at Villa Park, guiding them from a relegation fight when taking over from Steven Gerrard in November 2022 to the brink of Champions League qualification this season.
They are also in the semi-final of the Europa Conference League, where they play Olympiacos, and are the favourites to win the tournament which would represent a first European trophy since 1982.
Due to his impressive work at Villa Park, he was recently linked with the vacant Bayern Munich managerial position, while a number of other top European clubs will be looking for managers this summer and might have targeted the former Sevilla, Arsenal and Paris St Germain boss.
After Emery guided them to a seventh-placed finish last season, Villa have kicked on this term and are in pole position to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
They are sixth points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, who have two games in hand, and are managing their tough Thursday-Sunday schedule well.
Villa play Chelsea on Saturday night, where they could move nine points clear of Spurs, who play Arsenal on Sunday.
Erik Ten Hag says reaction to Manchester United’s FA Cup win was ’embarrassing’
Erik Ten Hag has branded the reaction to Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”.
Having let slip a 3-0 lead at Wembley with 20 minutes to go and then won on penalties after the Championship side had an extra-time goal disallowed for a marginal offside, United were heavily criticised by pundits and fans alike despite making it back-to-back finals.
Ten Hag met a question about whether he understood the response at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Sheffield United with a feisty response, saying: “No, absolutely not.
“The question: ‘Is it embarrassing?’ No, the reaction from you was embarrassing. It is the comments. Top football is about results, we made it to a final and we deserved it not only by this game but also the other games.
“We lost control for 20 minutes, we also had bad luck, 3-2, 3-3. We were very lucky in the end, clear. Penalties was very good and we made it to the final, it is a huge achievement. Twice in two years is magnificent.
“For me as a manager, four cup finals in four years. The comments are a disgrace.”
Antony has come in for particular criticism after he cupped his ear with his hand in a mocking gesture towards the Coventry players when Rasmus Hojlund netted the winning penalty.
Ten Hag accepted Antony was wrong but claimed he was provoked, saying: “That’s why, this was a reaction of that, you haven’t seen the provocation, only the reaction. But he should not do it.
“I have seen Harry Maguire straight after and others, we should acknowledge the performance of Coventry to come into that…and the comeback. Also see we are 70 minutes totally dominating the game by far and creating many chances.
“At 3-0 it must have been the game is closed but the return from their side was very good.”
The collapse added further intensity to the spotlight on Ten Hag’s position, and on Friday United announced that Jason Wilcox had left Southampton with immediate effect to become their new technical director.
Ten Hag said he was looking forward to working very closely with the former winger, adding: “We have to form a partnership, it’s very important. We are a little behind in the process so we have to catch up, so we will go and speed up the process.
“I met him yesterday for the first time, we had some talks. This week we will not have so much time but from Monday on we will go forward.
“Of course I know his profile, I know his methods in youth, a lot of experience there and then one year at Southampton. I know his background so I am looking forward to our partnership.”
United’s injury crisis continued at Wembley, with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes all picking up problems.
McTominay and Rashford are both doubtful for Wednesday but Ten Hag expects Garnacho and Fernandes to be able to play.
PGMOL to allow Nottingham Forest to hear VAR audio of rejected penalty claims
Nottingham Forest will be given the opportunity to privately hear the VAR audio connected to three penalty claims in their match against Everton last Sunday.
Forest called on Monday for the audio between Stuart Attwell and on-field official Anthony Taylor to be released publicly.
Sources close to referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) insist it has nothing to hide and will give the club the opportunity to hear the audio in private, as it would any other club making a similar request.
The PA news agency understands no decision has yet been taken on whether this audio would also feature in the next edition of ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’, which will air next Tuesday evening.
The audio related to a wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz goal for Liverpool at Tottenham earlier this season was released publicly, but in that instance there had been a serious communication error so the matter was treated differently.
Forest have been contacted by PA regarding the offer to release the audio.
The club have risked Football Association and Premier League sanction over their extraordinary response to the three rejected penalty appeals.
The club said in a statement on Sunday they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR Stuart Attwell “was a Luton fan” but that PGMOL did not change the appointment.
The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement, adding it was “never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials”.
The league said it was investigating the matter in relation to the league’s rules, with regulations B.15 and B.16 governing the requirement on clubs and their officials to behave with utmost good faith.
Forest went on to release a further statement on Monday evening calling for the rules around referees’ allegiances to be updated to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”.
Referees do already declare allegiances and will not be assigned that team’s matches, or certain other fixtures such as those involving direct local rivals of that club. For instance, Michael Oliver has spoken in the past about he cannot referee Newcastle games because he is a fan.
Other factors that determine appointments include which teams an official’s immediate family members support, as well as performance and the number of times they have officiated a particular team’s matches.
PGMOL takes all of that into account and endeavours to make the best appointments possible when allocating six officials to each Premier League fixture from a pool of 70 to 75, while also fulfilling Championship refereeing appointments.
Ultimately, it has confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of its officials.
No club is believed to have ever questioned the process in the manner Forest have since the birth of the Premier League 32 years ago, and nor have the club raised any concerns in relation to the previous occasions when Attwell has been the VAR at their matches this season.
English officials are clearly well thought of by UEFA, with eight included in the list for Euro 2024 this summer.
Taylor will lead one of two English referee teams at Euro 2024, with Oliver leading the other. Attwell and David Coote have been named as VARs.
Three Forest staff – manager Nuno Espirito Santo, full-back Neco Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg – have been asked by the FA for observations on the comments they made about the officiating at Goodison Park.
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