Cristian Chivu celebrated numerous reasons for optimism as Inter defeated Venezia 5-1 on Wednesday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
Marcus Thuram scored twice, as well as goals for Andy Diouf, Francesco Pio Esposito and substitute Ange-Yoan Bonny against their Serie B visitors at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Inter have now won seven of their last eight home games in all competitions (L1), having won just three in front of their fans in the previous eight (D2, L3).
And head coach Chivu was left beaming at the whistle as Inter advanced to the last eight of the competition for the 25th time in their last 30 attempts.
“I liked the attitude and respect they showed for their opponents,” Chivu told Sport Mediaset.
“I am happy with what the players showed tonight, but I knew that because they are motivated, they would want to give a sense of consistency to the good work that has been done in recent months.”
Matteo Cocchi, Leonardo Bovo and Matteo Spinacce, who usually represent the Under-23s in Serie C, all made their senior debuts for the dominant hosts.
We all looked like Pio when Bonny’s goal went in pic.twitter.com/PviRBieMxK
— Inter (@Inter_en) December 3, 2025
Esposito, aged 20 years and 158 days, became the youngest Inter player to score in the Coppa Italia since Mario Balotelli (19 years, 169 days against Juventus in 2010) to keep the youthful theme going.
And Diouf also scored his first goal in Inter colors on his first start and scored for the first time for any team since October 2024, when he found the net for Lens against Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
“I am happy for those who played their first match at San Siro, the Under-23 players who I knew quite well,” Chivu added.
“I’m happy for Andy Diouf, who had his first start and full 90 minutes and scored a goal. There are many reasons to be happy tonight.”
“The boys deserve credit, and they were also welcomed into the team very well by the old guard.
“Those who have been here for quite a few years and represent this club showed humility and helped the young people to immediately settle into the atmosphere of this club. It is a continuous process of improvement.”
The win also marked their biggest Coppa Italia win since a 6-2 defeat to Benevento in January 2019.
“We are well aware of what we want to do and how much work it will take to achieve that,” Chivu added. “We know that there are times when things go well and other times when things go badly.
“Hopefully as the season goes on I’ll have time to talk about some nonsense as well. I’m sure I’ve said a lot of it in the past but maybe people haven’t noticed.”
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