In their first-ever meeting, which was also Union’s second-ever clash against Italian opposition, the Belgian side almost got off to the perfect start following two quick-fire chances.
In the third minute, Promise David powered through the visitors’ defence before firing on goal, but Yann Sommer made a strong save before the ball was turned behind for a corner.
From the resulting corner kick, the ball fell to Christian Burgess at the back post, but the defender’s shot was cleared off the line by Lautaro Martinez.
Surprisingly, it took Inter until the midway point of the first half to get going, as Hakan Calhanoglu let fly from distance but Kjell Scherpen saved with a strong hand.
However, Inter were relentless and rounded off the opening 45 minutes with two goals. The first came when Calhanoglu’s corner caused chaos in the box, and Denzel Dumfries pounced to lash home.
The visitors then doubled their lead in first-half stoppage time as the goalscorer turned provider, after Dumfries broke forward before playing the ball to Esposito, who laid it off to Martinez, and the Argentine finished with aplomb by curling home.
Any hopes of a comeback from the Belgian side were quickly dashed within five minutes of the second half, after Inter were awarded a penalty following a VAR review, which found that Kamiel Van de Perre had handled in the box.
Calhanoglu stepped up and dispatched his spot kick with ease, burying it into the bottom left corner.
And Inter added some extra spice to an already lopsided scoreline on 76 minutes, after a quick counter culminated with Ange-Yoan Bonny breaking into the box, and his cutback was turned in by Esposito.
Inter’s dominant 4-0 win extends their 100% record in the Champions League this season and marks a seventh consecutive victory across all competitions, while Union have now won just once in their first three games of this edition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan)