Inter thumped Red Star Belgrade 4-0 for their first victory in the Champions League this season, with Mehdi Taremi among the scorers as he got off the mark for the Nerazzurri.
Taremi also provided two assists as Simone Inzaghi s men cruised to three points at San Siro, building on their goalless draw at Manchester City on matchday one.
It was Hakan Calhanoglu that gave Inter the lead 11 minutes in, curling a sumptuous 25-yard free-kick in off the post to leave Omri Glazer in the Red Star goal with no chance.
Inter had the ball in the net on two more occasions in the first half, but Marko Arnautovic and Denzel Dumfries were adjudged offside, while later Henrikh Mkhitaryan blazed over the bar from close range.
Inter doubled their advantage just before the hour-mark as former Milan midfielder Rade Krunic was robbed of possession just outside his own area by Taremi, who slipped the ball through to Arnautovic to side-foot home from 10 yards.
Lautaro Martinez then came off the bench to make it 3-0 from another Taremi assist, before the former Porto man – who joined on a free agent ahead of this season – got on the scoresheet himself, converting a late penalty after Vanja Drkusic felled Martinez.
Inter go to Young Boys for their next Champions League fixture on October 23, while Red Star travel to Monaco a day earlier.
6 Lautaro Martinez is now the second player to have scored in six different UEFA Champions League seasons with Inter, after Julio Cruz. Captain.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)
Data Debrief: Martinez closing in on Adriano
While Taremi was the star of the show for Inter on Tuesday, it was fellow forward Martinez who closed in on a piece of club history with his goal off the bench.
Martinez has now scored 13 Champions League goals for the 2022-23 runners-up, moving level with Julio Cruz for second spot in the club s all-time scoring charts in the competition. Only Adriano, with 14, has netted more such goals for the Nerazzurri.
