Inter’s attack ran clean and constant. They produced 4 big chances to Parma’s 0, and turned 3 of those into goals. The shot profile was decisive too: 13 attempts inside the box and 6 on target, compared to Parma’s 7 inside and 2 on target. Inter also owned territory with 42 touches in the penalty area to Parma’s 16 and led final-third entries 63 to 41. Crosses didn’t quite land, but they didn’t need to; Inter completed just 3 of 21 while Parma went 0 of 7.

Possession and passing fed that control. Inter completed 572 passes against Parma’s 366 and advanced the ball more reliably, especially via long balls at 32/49 (65%) vs 23/51 (45%). The hosts were tidier but also more aggressive, committing 13 fouls to Parma’s 9 and getting caught offside six times in exchange for advanced positions. Defensively, Inter were sharper in key moments, winning 53% of tackles and logging more interceptions (14 to 10) and recoveries (50 to 44). Parma’s goalkeeper Edoardo Corvi made 4 saves, but his goals prevented sat at -0.83, underlining the quality of Inter’s finishing and shot locations.

Inter’s first half blueprint

The game swung early and did not swing back. Petar Sučić opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a left-foot strike from just outside the area, a chance logged at 0.21 xG and 0.33 xGOT. A brief VAR check at 15 minutes waved away an Inter penalty shout, but the hosts didn’t have to wait long. In the 18th minute, Hakan Çalhanoğlu buried a penalty, a high-value look worth 0.79 xG, for 2-0. Inter then added a third at 31 minutes when Marcus Thuram finished low to the far corner after a neat sequence involving Carlos Augusto, Pio Esposito and a slide-rule pass from Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

By halftime it was 3-0, with Inter converting all three of their first-half big chances and hitting 5 shots on target from 8 attempts. Parma managed just one shot on target before the interval and found little joy against Inter’s back line and midfield press. Even with a few offsides and a couple of speculative crosses, Inter’s vertical choices were worth it, and their 1.99 expected goals on target in the first half showed their accuracy. From there, game management took over. Inter added 11 more attempts after the break but needed only one on target, throttling the pace and limiting Parma to 0.21 second-half xG.

Midfield and back line control

Inter’s structure held firm. In duels, they hovered near parity overall but dominated in the air, winning 15 of 21 aerials. They posted more clearances (18-16) and interceptions (14-10), and turned those moments into steady possession, completing 87% of their 628 passes. Final-third efficiency also stood out: 149 of 183 actions (81%) in that phase found their mark, compared with Parma’s 45 of 71 (63%). The home side’s balance kept Parma at arm’s length even as the visitors tried to edge forward with 13 second-half tackles and a slight edge in ground duels after the break.