Cagliari held out for just over a half, then Inter won: 3-0, with Barella also scoring.

A strong first half wasn't enough for Cagliari, who lost 3-0 to league leaders Inter. Thuram and former Nerazzurri legend Barella scored for the Nerazzurri early in the second half. Zieliński closed the scoring with a gem.

In the Rossoblu's 3-5-2 formation, Ibrahim Sulemana emerged victorious, replacing Luca Mazzitelli, who was injured against Cremonese, ahead of Alessandro Deiola and Michael Folorunsho. Within a minute, Cagliari were immediately dangerous, with Gaetano making a run through the middle and reaching twenty meters to shoot. His shot was deflected for a corner, but de Vrij headed it past Mina from the corner. Pisacane's team got off to a great start, with Sebastiano Esposito (following a Palestra play) scoring in the third minute, and Josep Martínez—played in place of Sommer tonight—slamming it out for a corner.

Cagliari found space in the opposition defense and came close to scoring in the 12th minute: Obert found Borrelli from the left, but the center forward couldn't find the space to shoot, but Palestra found him, and his first-time right-footed shot into the penalty area went over . Inter's first big chance came in the 16th minute, a one-two between Thuram and Pio Esposito. The latter couldn't close down (the Nerazzurri's number 94 couldn't reach the return pass), but the rebound favored Dimarco, whose left-footed shot was blocked in the six-yard box by Adopo, leaving Caprile beaten. In the 19th minute, number 32 again looked for Pio Esposito, but Mina saved his volley.

Cagliari were booked twice in quick succession between the 23rd and 25th minutes, first by Sebastiano Esposito for a late foul on Mkhitaryan, and then by Borrelli for slamming on de Vrij. Inter returned to attack in the 32nd minute, Dimarco's cross went over Caprile, and Adopo was instrumental in getting ahead of Thuram in the six-yard box. This resulted in three consecutive corners for the Nerazzurri, with Dumfries' final header going over. Caprile's first real save came in the 40th minute, an excellent save on a right-footed shot from Pio Esposito, freed in the box by a cross from the left . The half-time break followed two minutes of added time.

The second half was unchanged. Sulemana's cross (48') was picked out by former great Barella from the edge of the box, who fired a right-footed shot wide. Inter came close to scoring in the 50th minute, but Pio Esposito made a good save on the byline, then played it back to the onrushing Dumfries: the Dutchman's right-footed shot sailed into the six-yard box without any deflections. It was the first chance to make it 1-0, and the score arrived in the 52nd minute: Barella, stopped by Mina, nevertheless found a way to play the ball to Dimarco, who crossed low to the far post and Thuram slotted home from the six-yard box . This was the Frenchman's fourth goal in the last three games.

Inter broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute and had already doubled their lead by the 56th. Mkhitaryan passed to Pio Esposito on the edge of the box, but his back to goal turned and fed Thuram. His shot was blocked. Barella pounced on the ball and unleashed a powerful right-footer that left Caprile with no chance . The former great scored, but he refused to celebrate, but was picked up by Thuram. Before the restart, Pisacane brought off Gaetano and Borrelli for Deiola and Mendy. On the hour mark, the Nerazzurri again struck with a long-range free kick from Çalhanoğlu, which went wide.

Shaken by their opponent's one-two, Cagliari attempted to get back into the game in the 69th minute: a great pass to Palestra, who started from a safe position on the right. Mendy moved to the center, but Akanji was instrumental in blocking the cross, blocking the striker's chance to make it 2-1 . In the 73rd minute, Palestra fed Sebastiano Esposito, whose right-footed shot was deflected for a corner. Five substitutions were made for the final quarter of an hour: Inter substituted Zieliński, Bonny, and Luis Henrique for Mkhitaryan, Thuram, and Dimarco; Cagliari substituted Zappa and Folorunsho for Obert (Palestra moved to the left) and Sulemana.

The match wound down without further drama. Belotti played three minutes plus injury time, replacing Zé Pedro, and shortly afterward, the much-lauded Barella was replaced by Diouf (89'; Frattesi had replaced Çalhanoğlu in the 85th minute). In the second of four minutes of injury time, Inter scored their third: a touch on the edge of the box for Zieliński, who fired a stunning right-footed shot into the top corner, making it 3-0 .