Player ratings: Pisa 0-2 Inter – Lautaro leads Nerazzurri into second

A second-half Lautaro Martinez brace gave Inter a much-needed 2-0 victory away against Pisa in Serie A on Sunday afternoon, which has sent the Nerazzurri into second place ahead of the headline clash between Roma and Napoli later this evening. Here are the player ratings after an important victory for Cristian Chivu’s side in Tuscany. 

Martinez struck with two goals inside the area in the 69th and 83rd minute to get Inter back to winning ways following defeats against Milan and Atletico Madrid the week prior. 

You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog. 

Inter ratings: Sommer 6; Akanji 6, Acerbi 6, Bastoni 5.5; L.Henrique 5, Barella 7, Calhanoglu 6, Sucic 5.5, Dimarco 6; Thuram 6, L.Martinez 7.5.

Best Inter player: Lautaro Martinez 7.5 – His brace means that he is now the leading goalscorer in Serie A this season with six overall, overtaking teammate Hakan Calhanoglu plus Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic, Nico Paz and Riccardo Orsolini, who are all on five. He needed that, and Inter needed that from Lautaro. Two centre-forward’s finishes, and it was close to being a second-half hat-trick as well. 

Coach: Cristian Chivu 7 – Inter will have been disappointed with their back-to-back losses over the last week, even if they were against the in-form Milan and Atletico Madrid, so bouncing back away against Pisa was a necessity on Sunday. Pisa had not conceded at home since September 14, so this was not as straightforward a task as it might have seemed. And, in the end, it was a fairly routine victory. Any first-half nerves were shaken off by the time Lautaro scored his first goal in the 69th minute, and the coach couldn’t have asked for much more than a clean sheet and a two-goal victory away from home. 

Pisa ratings: Scuffet 6; Caracciolo 6.5, Albiol 5, Canestrelli 5; Toure 6.5, Piccinini 6, Aebischer 6, Marin 6, Angori 5; Nzola 6, Meister 6.5.

Best Pisa player: Toure 7 – Despite his side’s lack of goals, Toure created three chances for his teammates, only bettered by Inter’s Barella with four. He also attempted four crosses and laid on six passes into the final third in an encouraging display from right wing-back. 

Pisa coach: Alberto Gilardino 6 – For an hour of that game, it looked like Gilardino could be on for his fifth consecutive clean sheet at home in what was another well-organised display. That was until Lautaro opened the scoring with 20 minutes to go, and from there it was always going to be tricky to get back into the game. It seemed practically impossible when 2-0 down with less than 10 to go. Encouraging signs, but the newly-promoted outfit need to start getting more wins on the board moving forwards.