Inter midfielder Federico Dimarco found the back of the net in the Nerazzurri’s 2-2 draw with Sampdoria at the Marassi yesterday with a direct free kick, opening his account for his boyhood club on his first start.

Football statistics account OptaPaolo highlight the fact that when Dimarco opened the scoring for Inter, he was the first Italian player to score from a direct free kick for the club since Mario Balotelli did so more than a decade ago.

The tweet reads: “1 – Prior to Federico #Dimarco, the last Inter Italian player able to score with a direct free kick in Serie A was Mario Balotelli in February 2009 v Bologna. Specialist.”