The Japan Times - Inter swat aside Cagliari to continue Serie A title procession

Quickfire strikes shortly after half-time at the San Siro from Marcus Thuram and Nicolo Barella, and Piotr Zielinski's rocket in stoppage time, took Inter to potentially one game from claiming their 21st league crown, with closest challengers Napoli hosting Lazio on Saturday.

If Napoli do not beat Lazio, Inter could wrap up the Scudetto next weekend at Torino, although they would also need the reigning champions to not win their next fixture against relegation strugglers Cremonese.

Regardless, Inter look destined to take the title back from Napoli with weeks to spare and were too much for Cagliari who with five matches left in their season are six points above the relegation zone and not yet safe from the drop.

Thuram's opener came six minutes after the break and was probably his simplest finish of the season, the France forward casually guiding home his fourth goal in three matches from Federico Dimarco's perfect low cross.

And Inter were effectively sure of the points two minutes later when Sardinian Barella, who came up through the Cagliari's academy, smashed in the second and held his hands up in apology to his home-town team.

Inter fans roared chants about their massive league lead and their distaste for local rivals AC Milan as their team played out the rest of a match without exerting themselves, with the second leg of their Italian Cup semi-final with Como coming up on Tuesday.

Supporters had barely finished bellowing "we're gonna win the league" when Zielinski met Dumfries' knock-down with a perfect shot from the edge of the area which sailed past Elia Caprile and into the top corner.

- Como blow -

Como head into their cup showdown with Inter in downbeat mood after their bid for Champions League football suffered another blow with a 2-1 defeat at Sassuolo.

Cristian Volpato's brilliant lobbed finish at the end of a rapid counter-attack and a M'Bala Nzola strike, goals which came within two minutes near the end of the first half, gave Sassuolo victory in Reggio Emilia.

A second straight defeat leaves Como fifth, two points behind Juventus who host Bologna on Sunday night and with Roma one point behind in sixth ahead of their clash with Atalanta on Saturday.

AC Milan have also been given a reprieve, the seven-time European champions in third and five points ahead of Como but on a run of three defeats in their last four fixtures.

Como had looked on course to secure a sensational top four placing at half-time of last week's home match against Inter, a fixture which Cesc Fabregas' team led by two just before half-time.

But they eventually fell to a 4-3 defeat and Friday's loss leaves the traditionally small club, backed by tobacco giants Djarum, potentially five points away from the Champions League spots come the end of the weekend.

K.Nakajima--JT