The China Mail - Powerful Inter thrash Torino in Serie A opener

Alessandro Bastoni got the ball rolling in the 18th minute with a brilliant glancing header before Marcus Thuram -- who struck in each half -- Lautaro Martinez and new boy Ange-Yoan Bonny made sure of a comfortable victory for the hosts.

Inter are expected to be Napoli's main challengers for the Scudetto after conceding the title on the final day of last season, which ended with a traumatic thumping at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

And the 20-time Italian champions looked far from the exhausted, ageing outfit taken apart by PSG, even if the starting line-up featured only one new player in Petar Sucic.

It was Sucic who laid on Thuram for his first goal of the new campaign in the 36th minute with a beautiful pass in behind Torino's sloppy defence.

Martinez then pounced on a dreadful Gvidas Gineitis pass to slide home the third six minutes after half-time and 10 minutes later Thuram then made the scoreline reflect the balance of play by heading home Bastoni's brilliant deep cross.

And Bonny got in on the act in the 72nd minute after more dreadful passing in front of their own penalty area which allowed the France under-21 forward to rattle in the fifth.

Such a strong display would usually be played in front of a raucous atmosphere, but instead there were long periods of near silence among the home fans due to a protest from hardcore "ultra" supporters who provide most of the noise at matches.

A large group of ultras stayed outside the stadium in protest at supporters being put on a so-called "black list" and being banned from renewing season tickets in the area of the San Siro commonly known at the "Curva Nord".

The decision from Inter comes after a clutch of leading ultras from both Milan clubs' fan bases were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison in June for a range of serious crimes.

The Curva Nord's former top boys, in jail after being arrested in September last year, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy aggravated by mafia methods, with their leader Andrea Beretta also found guilty of killing a mobster from a notorious 'Ndrangheta clan.

Beretta and four others are also accused of organising the killing in October 2022 of Vittorio Boiocchi, considered one of the historic leaders of Inter's ultras and a career criminal.

Boiocchi's murder was related to the struggle for control of the Inter ultras' reportedly lucrative matchday activities which include ticket touting, control of parking and sales from concession stands.

The lower decibels from the home fans meant that Torino's away support ironically shouting "ole" at their team's rare successful passes could be heard loud and clear, as could the insults directed at the club's owner Urbano Cairo.

On the evidence of Monday's display Marco Baroni's team will have a long season battling against relegation.

C.Fong--ThChM