Lautaro Martinez had a fine day at the office as his brace helped Inter Milan beat Shakhtar 5-0 in their Europa League semi-final. The Argentine striker’s performance was also acknowledged by the Italian media, with Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport both having him as the Nerazzurri’s best player on the evening.
Lautaro’s performance v Shakhtar in numbers
2 goals
1 assist
4 shots (all on target)
3 dribbles
2 tackles
32 touches
6 recoveries
23 pressures
Lautaro player rating v Shakhtar in Gazzetta
Martinez played 80 minutes of this game and exited the pitch with Inter leading 4-0. He had a hand in three of the four goals, scoring two himself and setting up one for strike partner Romelu Lukaku. The Lu-La partnership has been a key factor in Inter’s revival this season- with 54 goals together across all competitions, the two are now only behind the legendary Angelillo-Firmani pair (70 goals in the 58-59 season) in Inter’s history books. In terms of numbers, they’re already better than some of the club’s most potent striking duos this century (Adriano-Martins, Eto’o-Pazzini & Milito-Eto’o to name three)
Lautaro is Inter’s best player v Shakhtar in Corriere dello Sport
Martinez gave Serhiy Kryvtsov a tough time in this game. His first goal on 19 minutes (broke the deadlock), saw him beat the Shakhtar defender to a Barella cross. His second goal, in the 74th minute, was a very nice finish-it had a xG of just 0.07 (7 out of 100 would score in that position). Kryvtsov was in an unenviable position of having to defend a 2 on 1, and Lautaro coolly slotted home from the edge of the box. Two goals definitely worth the watch if you’re a fan of the Argentine forward!
And it’s just not the attacking part of his game, his defensive work rate is top-notch too! Here is a heatmap of his performance v Shakhtar, courtesy WS.
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