Match dominated by Inzaghi’s team. Lautaro is still in the net and also misses a penalty, a goal and an injury to the right adductor for Frattesi
– MILAN
It was supposed to be a big match and instead the Giuseppe Meazza crowd enjoyed yet another goal from a sensationally unstoppable team in 2024. Inter-Atalanta ends 4-0, Inzaghi’s men win the 11th match of the 11 played in the calendar year and also close February emanating a sense of omnipotence that is rarely remembered for its continuity and scope of results. The eighth victory of the championship with at least a four-goal difference bears the signatures of Matteo Darmian and Lautaro Martinez in the first half, plus Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi in the second half: the Argentine also hits the crossbar and misses a penalty, the former Sassuolo he leaves due to muscle discomfort. Juventus, powerless, collapses -12 behind the leaders.
GOAL, OR rather GOAL
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For the match that removes that annoying asterisk from the rankings, Simone Inzaghi restores the “typical formation” as much as possible, net of the absences of Francesco Acerbi, Hakan Calhanoglu and Marcus Thuram, one from each department. So the defense is still in the hands of Stefan De Vrij, the direction is entrusted to Kristjan Asllani and Marko Arnautovic returns to the starting line-up as had not yet happened in 2024. Gian Piero Gasperini instead returns to San Siro three days after the 1-1 draw against Milan, changing only the wingers – Hans Hateboer and Davide Zappacosta – and inserting Mario Pasalic in midfield in place of Marten De Roon. A quarter of an hour before kick-off Javier Zanetti gives Lautaro a celebratory shirt for his 100 (actually 101) goals in Serie A, but the attacker is not the first to celebrate: in the 10th minute a superficial turnover of Inter at the edge of the area allows Pasalic to recover the ball and challenge Yann Sommer with a shot, on the rebound Alessandro Bastoni and Aleksey Miranchuk collide and Charles De Ketelaere scores. The Nerazzurri asked for a foul on the aforementioned contact, but in reality the referee Andrea Colombo was called to the monitor for a touch of the Russian’s arm, which effectively caused the goal to be cancelled. Instead, it was a clear offside, in the 20th minute, that thwarted an amazing control on the run by Nicolò Barella to beat Marco Carnesecchi, with a goal annexed. Still 0-0.
remove the cap
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In the 26th minute the back-and-forth of canceled goals was interrupted when Lautaro found a nice deep trajectory for Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Carnesecchi managed a low exit, but the ball stayed there and Darmian put it into the empty net. Shortly afterwards the winger came close to scoring a brace but found himself opposed by the Atalanta goalkeeper, evidence of a second part of the first half dominated by the home team: when Lautaro chipped the crossbar with power from outside the area, Gasperini really risked seeing his goal compromised away even before half-time. The coach of the Bergamo players breathes a momentary sigh of relief, but in the first minute of injury time a crazy left-footed shot from Toro strikes a Carnesecchi who is still uncertain at the exit (at the start of the action): it’s 102 in Serie A for the Argentine and a two-goal lead before half the match, yet another show of strength from the league leaders.
game over
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In short, after the first 45′ it is clear that Gasperini’s tactical moves – including Ederson to man Barella – are not enough to worry the strongest team in Italy. Among the hosts, the booked Darmian leaves room for Denzel Dumfries, but it is the other winger Federico Dimarco who is first dangerous with a powerful left-footed save. On the following corner kick Hateboer touches the ball with his arm following a cross from the Dutchman: the linesman reports that the ball went out a few moments before, but the VAR disavows it and Lautaro goes to the spot. Carnesecchi saves, Dimarco (54′) scores the rebound and definitively gives shape to the +12 over Juventus. The remaining half hour smacks of basketball “garbage time” and Gasperini’s quadruple substitution after the trio has the flavor of surrender. Inzaghi distributes the substitutions to reserve all the applause at the Meazza: the last one, obligatory, arrives after the 4-0. Frattesi heads it into the net anticipating Pasalic’s generous marking, but then asks for a substitution due to a muscle problem. If there is a flaw in the recovery of the 21st matchday, it is the contracture of the right adductor for the former Sassuolo player.
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