Inter 3-1 Bologna: Captain Martinez leads Chivu´s side back to Serie A summit

Lautaro Martinez grabbed a goal and an assist as Inter returned to the top of the Serie A table with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Bologna at San Siro.

Just 16 days after losing to Bologna on penalties in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-finals, the Nerazzurri exacted revenge in the league on Sunday to move a point ahead of rivals AC Milan.

Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia was forced into making two early stops: first, denying Lautaro Martinez’s volley, before diving low to his left to repel Marcus Thuram’s shot.

However, the visiting goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Inter taking the lead six minutes before half-time, as Piotr Zielinski drilled a fierce effort home from the edge of the box.

And Cristian Chivu’s team doubled their lead three minutes after the restart, with Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner met by the head of Martinez for his 10th league goal of the season.

Martinez should have added to his tally moments later after Lewis Ferguson’s slip gifted the ball to Thuram, but from his centre, the Argentine hit the crossbar from close range.

However, that miss mattered little as Thuram sealed the win 16 minutes from time, with Bologna failing to deal with another corner that went in off the Frenchman’s shoulder.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side did pull a goal back when Santiago Castro finished from Charalampos Lykogiannis’ cross in the 83rd minute, despite the best efforts of Yann Sommer.

3 goals and 3 big points in the bag pic.twitter.com/xGDBaeZtTN

— Inter (@Inter_en) January 4, 2026

Data Debrief: Martinez hits double figures yet again

After seeing title rivals Milan and Napoli record victories, Inter dropped to third in Serie A and knew a win was crucial to maintain their Scudetto ambitions, and they were able to deliver thanks to Martinez, who continues to be their main man in attack.

Indeed, only Alessandro Altobelli (eight), Giuseppe Meazza and Benito Lorenzi (both nine) have recorded more different league seasons with 10+ goals in Inter’s history than Martinez (seven), who delivered a captain’s display here.

He finished the game with team-high totals for shots on target (four), but Thuram deservedly got on the scoresheet after a tireless performance. No player won more duels (12), completed more dribbles (two) and won more tackles (two) than the France international.

Inter dominated from the first minute, which is represented in the metrics. They finished the match with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.96 from their 19 shots, 10 of which were on target, compared to Bologna’s 0.85 from their six attempts.