Inter ease past Lazio, set up Italian Super Cup final with Napoli

Inter Milan comfortably beat Lazio 3-0 with goals from Marcus Thuram, Davide Frattesi and Hakan Calhanoglu in the Italian Super Cup semifinal on Friday, setting up next Monday's showdown with Napoli who beat last year's finalists Fiorentina 3-0 a day ago.

Holders Inter now have a chance to achieve a hat-trick of the Super Cup victories should they beat the Italian champions, which will make them the second team to do so after local rivals AC Milan from 1992 to 1994. 

"We approached the game well, the boys played really well. We've got to the final which is what we wanted, now we need to recover in time for the match with Napoli which will be very difficult," said Inter manager Simone Inzaghi, who has a chance to win the Super Cup for a record-breaking fifth time in his career.

After 17 minutes of pressure on Lazio and multiple attempts on goal that hit the bar, an unmarked Thuram finally broke the deadlock for his side with a heel flick from Federico Dimarco. Calhanoglu doubled the lead for the Serie A leaders five minutes into the second half from the penalty spot after Lazio's Pedro Rodriguez fouled Lautaro Martinez. Frattesi sealed the win for Inter three minutes before time, tapping the ball in just outside the box after a counter-attack.

"We had never played this format before but this is what football is like now, we have to adapt and I congratulated the lads tonight as I really enjoyed myself watching them," said Inzaghi.

"The players did so well, we had a great performance, immediately had the right approach. Now we are in the final, we must try to recover energy over two days as it is going to be very difficult against Napoli," he added.

"It was clear within four or five minutes. It is clear there is a big difference between us and them but at the same time the difference is not as large as it appeared to be tonight," said Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri, whose side barely had a kick in what became a one-sided contest.

This season's Super Cup featured four teams for the first time, including the top two from last season's Serie A, namely Napoli and Lazio, and the finalists of last year's Italian Cup, Inter Milan and Fiorentina.