From Sanchez's assists to Pirola's debut: SPAL vs. Inter, all you need to know

MILAN - On the morning after the 4-0 victory over SPAL, here are the numbers, statistics and fun facts on the game (in collaboration with Opta), which was decided by goals from Candreva, Biraghi, Sanchez and Gagliardini.

WINS ON THE ROAD

With their win over SPAL, Inter confirmed their ability to take points away from home. The Nerazzurri have in fact picked up 36 points on their travels, which is one more than Atalanta (35). Conte’s side have won eleven, drawn three and lost two away from home, scoring 34 goals and conceding 17.

The win against SPAL was a particularly interesting victory; Inter won a Serie A away match by a margin of four goals for the first time since April 2019 (4-0 vs. Genoa). Furthermore, their positive trend against SPAL continues: ten wins in their last eleven games against the Ferrara outfit. The Nerazzurri have also scored at least two goals in each of these games. Di Biagio’s side had no shots on target, though Petagna did hit the crossbar - other than that, Handanovic wasn’t called into action once.

ALEXIS SANCHEZ HAS REGISTERED SEVEN ASSISTS

Alexis Sanchez’s excellent form continues; just as he did against Brescia, the Chilean both scored and assisted in Ferrara. It’s the fourth time he’s done this in Europe’s top five leagues. With that incisive pass to Candreva, Sanchez recorded his seventh assist in the league so far this season; he hasn’t had a better campaign in this regard since the 2016/17 Premier League season with Arsenal.

Since the restart, Alexis has been involved in eight Inter goals: two goals and six assists. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (nine) has been involved in more in the same period.

BIRAGHI AND CANDREVA, GOALS FROM OUT WIDE

Inter managed to put their own style of football on full display against SPAL; they used the full width of the pitch, bringing their wide men and midfielders into play. This is how Antonio Candreva got his goal in his second consecutive away appearance. Candreva now has seven goals this season: five in the league, one in the Champions League and one in the Coppa Italia. He’s Inter’s third-highest goalscorer this season.

It was a first for Cristiano Biraghi. For the first time, the left wing-back scored and assisted in the same game in Serie A. Biraghi has been involved in six goals in the league so far this season (two goals and four assists), his best ever tally in a single top-flight season. He has also scored in the Europa League. Fun fact: all of his goals have come in games played behind closed doors.

To conclude our analysis of the wide men, Young, who had just come on, made a telling contribution with an assist. He has had a hand in four goals in his last five Serie A appearances.

PIROLA’S DEBUT AND D’AMBROSIO’S 200TH APPEARANCE

Lorenzo Pirola (read his post-match interview) made his Inter debut off the bench against SPAL. Born in 2002, he’s an Inter fan and grew up in the Club’s youth sector. Six players born in 2002 have made their Serie A debut this season, three of those are Inter players: Pirola, Esposito and Agoumé.

Danilo D’Ambrosio also came on during the second half to make his 200th appearance in an Inter shirt.

PRESENT AND POST

It was the fourth goal this season for Roberto Gagliardini, the only Inter player to have started every game after the break.

Since the restart, Inter have hit the woodwork five times, only Roma (six) have had more.

PALI E PRESENZE

Quarto gol in campionato per Roberto Gagliardini, l'unico giocatore di movimento dell'Inter ad aver giocato titolare tutte le partite di campionato dopo la sosta

Dalla ripresa del campionato l’Inter ha colpito cinque legni, soltanto la Roma (sei) ne ha centrati di più nel periodo.