Inter passes Red Star to claim first Champions League victory

Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez celebrates with fans after scoring his side’s third goal at the San Siro Stadium. (AP photo)

MILAN: Inter Milan won the first match of this season’s revamped Champions League on Tuesday, beating Red Star Belgrade 4-0 at San Siro.

A stunning free-kick from Hakan Calhanoglu opened the scoring in the 11th minute under a downpour in northern Italy, before Marko Arnautovic rolled in his first goal of the campaign on the hour mark.

Captain Lautaro Martinez added a third in the 71st minute and won the penalty shortly afterwards, from which Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi recorded a comfortable home success.

Martinez, who was about to take the penalty with Calhanoglu already substituted, gave Taremi the chance to score his first Inter goal past Israeli international goalkeeper Omri Glazer.

“I’m happy that I can score tonight and play well. Thanks to my teammates. It was great,” Taremi told Sky before suggesting he expected a deep run from his new team.

“Our goal as a big club is to reach the final, as Inter must try to win every match. We are going to take it step by step.”

Tuesday’s victory moved the Italian champions to four points and into the top eight of the new league stage of the elite club competition, from which teams will qualify directly for the last 16 ahead of Wednesday’s matches.

It’s too early to say whether Inter will avoid the play-offs next year, but Simone Inzaghi’s side were too good for Red Star, even with seven changes from the team that beat Udinese this weekend.

And Inter have already shown they can compete with the best in their goalless draw against Manchester City a fortnight ago.

“It’s a win we needed after playing well in Manchester, but we have to keep moving in this direction,” Inzaghi said.

Red Star are in 32nd place after losing their first two games and coach Vladan Milojevic complained about a performance full of mistakes.

“We gave away four goals. I said after the match against Benfica (2-1 loss) that we cannot allow those kinds of goals. When you make these kinds of mistakes, there is not much else you can do,” he told reporters.

Ultra arrests

The match was played against the backdrop of mass arrests of leading figures within both Inter and AC Milan’s hardcore ultras fan groups for a variety of crimes related to illegal profits made around matches.

Police arrested 19 people on Monday, almost all of them ultras, for “criminal conspiracy aggravated by mafia methods, extortion, assault and other serious crimes”.

The alleged crimes relate to activities around the San Siro Stadium on match days, ranging from selling tickets to monitoring parking, selling concession stands and taking payments from people without tickets and letting them into the stadium.

Monday’s arrests came after a long investigation into the echoes of both clubs and the shocking murder last month of Antonio Bellocco, the scion of a powerful ‘Ndrangheta clan who was stabbed to death by fellow Inter ultra Andrea Beretta.

Investigators from the financial police and anti-mafia authorities said on Monday that Inter and Milan were not being investigated and that the pair had been “damaged” by the affair.

Those arrests and the soaking wet weather in Milan did not dampen the atmosphere in the Curva Nord section of San Siro, where Inter’s loudest fans stood and roared for their team from the first minute.

The entire stadium was turned upside down after Calhanoglu’s stunning free kick put the hosts ahead as Inter dominated the game.

Arnautovic and Denzel Dumfries were both flagged for offside when they scored, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan squandered two big chances to extend Inter’s deserved lead.

Mkhitaryan just failed to get a good foot on Piotr Zielinski’s brilliant cross in the 58th minute, but moments later Arnautovic rolled in Inter’s second after Taremi took the ball from former AC Milan midfielder Rade Krunic .

Red Star went down and Martinez scored his third goal of the season after another fine assist from Taremi, who received a gift from his Argentinian striker as a thank you for his excellent work up front, helping Inter secure a fine victory.