Young ends drought in Inter’s winning finale as fans return

Ashley Young struck early with his first goal of the season as champions Inter Milan celebrated their Serie A title in front of their home fans with a 5-1 season-ending victory over Udinese on Sunday.

The game was watched by 1,000 fans inside the 75,000-seater San Siro for the first time in a campaign played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Young grabbed the opener after eight minutes following a one-two with Lautaro Martinez for the English midfielder’s first effort in 26 games having scored four last season.

The former Manchester United and Aston Villa winger has scored five goals in 59 games since moving to Italy in January 2020.

The 35-year-old also won the Premier League with United in 2013 and is the third English player to win in Italy after Jimmy Greaves and Gerry Hitchens with Inter in the 1960s.

Denmark’s Christian Eriksen came off the bench and scored with a freekick through the Udinese wall just before the break.

Martinez marked his 100th Serie A appearance with the third goal from the penalty spot ten minutes after the break for a foul on Achraf Hakimi.

Ivan Perisic and Romelu Lukaku added two more in the second half.

There was a party atmosphere both inside and outside the stadium with the song of Italy’s Eurovision winners Maneskin blasting out during the interval.

Handanovic makes history: Inter captain Samir Handanovic was untroubled in goal against his former club in a game which saw him overtake Walter Zenga as the goalkeeper with the most league appearances for the club.

The 36-year-old lifted his first trophy with the club he joined in 2012 after eight seasons with Udinese.

The Slovenia keeper was substituted at half-time with Daniele Padelli coming off the bench with Roberto Pereyra getting a goal back for Udinese from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to go for an Eriksen handball.

Outside, over 4,000 Nerazzurri fans celebrated their 19th Serie A title and first since 2010, which had been secured with four games to spare.

The fans gathered early in the day with fireworks, flares and singing as the team bus arrived.

Antonio Conte’s side were presented with the trophy after the game having denied his former club Juventus a 10th consecutive league title this campaign.

Ranieri exits Sampdoria: Claudio Ranieri brought the curtain down on his coaching career with Sampdoria on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Parma.

Italian forward Fabio Quagliarella marked his 500th Serie A appearance with the opening goal against relegated Parma who will finish the season bottom of the table.

Ranieri, 69, announced on Friday he would not coach the Genoa club next season with his contract due to expire in June, after just under two seasons.

“I wanted the team to fight until the last game,” said Ranieri, who led outsiders Leicester City to the 2016 English Premier League title, and took over the Genoa side in October 2019.

“The lads were happy tonight. I was sorry not to have been able to greet the fans tonight.

“And now? We’ll see, I still really want to work.”

Ranieri’s vast coaching experience spanning 35 years includes spells at Chelsea, Valencia, Monaco, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Roma and Napoli.

In Genoa, Quagliarella broke through after 20 minutes finishing off an Antonio Candreva cross, with Omar Colley sending in a rebound before the break.

Candreva again set up Manolo Gabbiadini to curl in the third after an hour to seal the three points and move his team up to ninth.

Quagliarella has scored 177 top flight goals and 99 for Sampdoria, including 13 this season.

The Italian international has played over 200 times for Sampdoria, and was the Serie A top scorer in the 2018-2019 season with 26 goals.

Quagliarella made his top flight debut in Torino in 2000.

He has also played for Udinese, Napoli and Juventus, winning three Serie A trophies with the Turin club.

Genoa beat Cagliari 1-0 with Eldor Shomurodov scoring the only goal after quarter of an hour in Sardinia.

Fiorentina were held to a goalless draw at relegated Crotone.

Agence France-Presse