The Nerazzurri suffered, but came through with a header from the Brazilian at the start of the second half and with a flash from the Frenchman in injury time. Inzaghi remains in the wake of Atalanta and Napoli
The tip is green-gold with white and blue shades. Inter defeated Como in the freezing San Siro thanks to goals from Carlos Augusto and Marcus Thuram and celebrated Christmas early. The man of the match is a boy from Campinas, Brazil, State of Sao Paulo, good at completing an all-Nerazzurri tree with the missing piece and drawing applause from the entire stadium. Meazza confirms itself as a fortress: only one home defeat in 2024. Como, on the other hand, returns to the lake with the awareness of having pulled out its claws, pressed across the pitch and forced the Italian champions to fall back more and more several times, especially in the first half. Fabregas had praised Inzaghi several times for his way of interpreting the 3-5-2. The feeling is that after tonight Simone will also shake his hand in admiration. Moving on wasn’t easy.
PRESSING
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Cesc’s eleven is double-faced: when they need to take refuge they dig in behind with five defenders, Sergi Roberto in the middle and Nico Paz as a wildcard, called to give a shock in transition and make his left foot count. Up front, however, the maneuver mainly involves Strefezza, Sergi and Belotti, even if what bewitches San Siro is the all-out pressing of Cesc’s boys. As soon as the Nerazzurri begin to build lows, especially with Calhanoglu and Bastoni (deployed as a central defender due to de Vrij’s withdrawal), Como raises the tide of men, positions themselves man-wise and overwhelms Inter, often forced to retreat. An idea designed to attack the Italian champions by biting them in the hips and hoping for an error in the disengagement phase. On a couple of occasions they even come close. The Nerazzurri’s escape route is on the flanks: on the half hour Dumfries eats up the lead by sending the ball high from the center of the area, while Dimarco shoots at Reina with just a few minutes to go. Inzaghi, nervous and cold on the sideline, invites his team to open the game on the outside. There is traffic in the middle.
ONE-TWO
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The second half opens with a question. How do you unblock a match where the passing lines are closed and the outbursts on the wings are controlled? Praise be to the free kick. In the 48th minute Carlos Augusto takes the lift and converts Calhanoglu’s corner. Second goal in a row after the one scored against Lazio. A tribute to patience. As a kid they called him “perna de pau”, wooden leg, because every shot on goal was a prayer. This time he put his mind to it. Como, however, raised it within a couple of minutes, but Carlos slipped his leg in and saved the result by anticipating Goldaniga at the far post. Just enough time to see a super Sommer block Paz’s left foot (60′). The boy from the Blanca house – on whom Real retains the recompra – has personality and vision. Tonight he kicked once with his right foot, touched around thirty balls, served Belotti a couple of times and moved all over the pitch, often looking for the decisive opportunity. There are those in the stands who are taking note. The exclamation point goes to Thuram, who has reached 20 goals in 2024. The Frenchman’s right-footed shot hits Reina on his post and ends the match. Inter are hot on the heels of Atalanta and rise to 37 points with one game in hand. Christmas can be celebrated in peace.
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