The Nerazzurri crush the Giallorossi who only think about defending themselves, the French decider with 10′ to go. Mou pays for the defeatist tactic
– Milan
Inter also beat Roma, achieved their third victory in a week after the international break and regained the solitary first place in the standings that Juventus had taken away from them last night. In the afternoon of the great protest against the former Lukaku, who was booed from the first to the last minute, the Nerazzurri people rejoiced thanks to their heir, Marcus Thuram who scored the decisive goal (the fifth in 2023-24) on the assist of the usual Dimarco. San Siro is seething with joy for a well-deserved victory: Roma shoots on target only once with Cristante in the second half and for the rest they only think about defending themselves, with the Belgian canceled out by Acerbi. Inzaghi’s men, on the other hand, also hit the woodwork twice with Calhanoglu and Carlos Augusto and legitimizes a super start to the season with 10 victories in the first 13 official matches (8 out of 10 in Serie A). A step towards the championship even if the competition doesn’t give up.
INTER DOES NOT BREAK
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Inzaghi goes with the starting lineup and, compared to the match against Salzburg on Tuesday, puts Acerbi, Barella, Dimarco and Thuram back in the starting lineup (his father Lilian is in the stands). Mourinho, who watches the match from the press gallery, has seven players out including Dybala, Pellegrini and Smalling, but in attack there is Lukaku, a former much booed player, alongside El Shaarawy. Inter started strong, tried to crush Roma and after 6′ a stone from Calhanoglu from the edge hit the crossbar, Rui Patricio beaten. The hosts keep the ball more, turn it around and then look for Thuram’s deep run who creates danger with a couple of shots. Dumfries also had an impact on the right: before the quarter of an hour Zalewski jumped and passed the ball to the French attacker who was denied the goal by a reflex from Rui Patricio with his foot. Roma are in difficulty especially on the side where the Dutchman sinks, they have Lukaku who is not very incisive because he was blocked by Acerbi and they also save themselves from Dimarco’s left foot, which goes just wide. Inzaghi often orders changes of play to open up the Giallorossi defence, while in the non-possession phase he doesn’t always press: sometimes he prefers that the opponents get up and leave a few meters behind them to “hit” them with a counterattack . In attack, however, Mou’s team is small: in the 45th minute the Giallorossi have zero attempted shots (this hasn’t happened since 2004-05), the Nerazzurri have 12 but only one is on target defended by the Portuguese number one.
MARCUS’ STAMP
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The second half begins with Darmian replacing the booked Pavard and with Thuram’s header just wide. The tactical attitude of the two teams is always the same: Inter continues to keep the ball (65% at half-time), Roma cover the gaps and, even if Lukaku is underserved, they start a counterattack. Mourinho sees both Ndicka and Paredes booked in the first five minutes of the second half (he was booked on a booking), but he doesn’t lose his composure. Because his team concedes something without going astray. Roma showed up for the first time in Sommer’s area with a free kick from Paredes returned from the wall, but the Swiss ran the real danger with a header from Cristante which forced the former Bayern player into a good save. Inter responds with a shot from outside by Mkhitaryan, deflected for a corner. The Nerazzurri no longer have the pace of the first round and Roma defend themselves without suffering as in the opening quarter of an hour. Inzaghi understands that he has to change something and he does it once again with the right intuition: he inserts Asllani and Frattesi for Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan. Mourinho responds with Celik in place of Zalewski. Inter, who had long tried to break through to the right with Dumfries, went to the left more often from Dimarco and the left-footed winger first produced a dangerous cross (not completed by Dumfries) and then, following a panoramic opening from Asllani, served to Thuram the assist to make it 1-0. San Siro explodes and Lilian’s son embraces Lautaro under the Curva Nord. Lukaku, on the other hand, is frozen in midfield. Mourinho throws Aouar into the fray for El Shaarawy and Belotti for Bove; Inzaghi “spends” Carlos Augusto for Dimarco and De Vrij for Dumfries. Now Inter retreats for the last 5 minutes plus recovery of Roma’s forcing, with Azmoun replacing Paredes. Carlos Augusto hits the crossbar with a great number, but without doubling the lead San Siro has to hold its breath until the end, when Cristante tries from outside without finding the target (93′). Then the party begins for Inter, once again leaders.
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