Soccer Football - Serie A - Hellas Verona v Inter Milan - Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Verona, Italy - November 23, 2024 Inter Milan's Joaquin Correa scores their first goal REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
VERONA, Italy (Reuters) - Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi has praised forward Joaquin Correa for an impeccable display in their 5-0 win at Hellas Verona on Saturday after the Argentine made his first starting line-up this season.
Correa scored a goal and made two assists as he stepped in in the absence of striker Lautaro Martinez for his fist start of the campaign across all competitions, with Inter provisionally returning to the Serie A summit.
"Correa deserved this chance for how he's been working since June, he showed what he can do," Inzaghi told a press conference.
"I'm happy for him. In addition to being a great player, he's a good guy who continued with his work despite some mistrust."
Last season the 30-year-old was sent on a one-year loan to Olympique de Marseille and he was expected to leave Inter for good as the French club had an option to buy the player.
He made three appearances in the previous 12 league games upon his return, entering from the bench at Monza, Udinese and AS Roma before he was selected to pair up with Marcus Thuram from the start against Verona.
Correa opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a chipped finish after a precise pass from Thuram. He then returned the favour and teed the Frenchman up to double the lead in the 22nd, before setting up Yann Bisseck for the fifth before the break.
"It wasn't difficult because my teammates helped me and were happy when I scored," Correa said.
"I wanted to do the back heel for Bisseck, but there was also a bit of luck. There are a lot of good guys here, we have to continue like this."
Inter next host RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday and they may still be without Martinez, who fell sick as he returned from international duty.
"We need to see how the virus evolves," Inzaghi said. "Last night he had chills and this morning he had a fever of almost 38 degrees.
"I had (the same virus) too, skipping training on Monday and Tuesday. In any case he would have been (resting) on the bench today even if he had been here. We'll see."
Martinez scored in both of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay (2-1) and Peru (1-0).
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk)
