Romelu Lukaku scored on his debut as Internazionale beat Lecce 4-0 in Antonio Conte’s first game in charge.
Lukaku was making his first appearance since his £74m move from Manchester United in Inter’s opening game, at San Siro. Marcelo Brozovic and Stefano Sensi put the hosts in control in the first half and Antonio Candreva completed the scoring with a long-range strike after Diego Farias was dismissed for the visitors.
Lecce, back in the top flight after a seven-year absence, made a bright start, forcing Brozovic into an acrobatic clearance and then Milan Skriniar to clear away Gianluca Lapadula’s effort with Samir Handanovic beaten. But Inter quickly began playing the fast-paced football associated with Conte and Lautaro Martínez hit the crossbar with a free header from a Candreva cross.
Brozovic opened the scoring after 21 minutes when he curled the ball into the top corner from 25 yards. Sensi doubled Inter’s lead three minutes later, skipping past two challenges and drilling into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Lukaku added the third after an hour, firing in after Gabriel could only parry Martínez’s shot from 18 yards. Substitute Farias was shown a straight red with 14 minutes left for a tackle from behind and Candreva added a fourth six minutes from time.
Chinese-owned Inter appointed Conte, who previously won three Serie A titles with Juventus and one English Premier League title with Chelsea, to replace Luciano Spalletti in the close season in a bid to end eight seasons without a major trophy. As expected, there was no place for forward Mauro Icardi who has been told he is not part of Inter’s plans but has yet to negotiate a move away from the club.
“I am very happy and satisfied; I like working with these guys who have always shown great willingness,” said Conte. “Romelu has entered the Inter world with great humility, he is ready to work for the team.”
