Toro starts from the bench, but when he comes on he scores four goals in 27 minutes: he is the top scorer in the championship and the leader of Inzaghi’s team
– SALERNO
Welcome to the Lautaro show. Inter chase away the Berardi ghost, reposition themselves with a certain boldness next to Milan and frown at Benfica arriving at San Siro. All of this, climbing on the shoulders of his Toro with the armband: in Salerno for the first time in the season Martinez starts from the bench, but 27 minutes are enough for him to score four and already reach double figures for the season. The all-Argentine poker gives an idea of how much Inzaghi’s team clings to its phenomenon with a ten on its shoulders. But the 4-0 against Salernitana was still wider than the match said: for 60′ the team of a shaky Sousa still showed pride and played on equal terms, but it was Simone’s substitutions that made them sink so theatrically in the last half hour.
WHAT A TRIBUTE
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Simone Inzaghi, as proven on the eve, decides to let the most energetic players catch their breath at the start: with an eye on Benfica, out Toro, Bastoni, Mkhitaryan and in Sanchez, Pavard plus the Dutchman Klaassen, a more succulent and slightly forced by the absence of Frattesi. Sousa, with his back against the wall, at least changes his setup at the start by relying on a 4-2-3-1 to look for width, with the pair Bohinen and Legowski acting as a barrier in the middle and the trio Kastanos-Martegani-Cabral behind to the revived Dia. An amazing show is offered at the beginning by the Salerno curve with a varied homage to Pink Floyd. Indeed, the first part of the choreography, which reproduces the cover of the unforgettable album “The Wall”, almost becomes a suggestion for the home team: given Inter’s sprint start, the Granata must really raise the wall. Dangerous shots rained down straight away, and only missed due to aiming errors: first an inspired Sanchez and then Dumfries missed, while Ochoa had to reach out on a header from Carlos Augusto.
Inter doesn’t break through
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It would therefore seem like an announced massacre and, instead, it is always enough to reconnect the thread with the initial maxi-choreography in which the granata ultras also paid homage to another album by the British band, “The Dark Side of the Moon”: “You will always find us here in the dark side of the moon”, we read in the curve at the start. And Sousa’s boys also demonstrate that they have another side, darker and meaner than the compliant one shown in the first quarter of an hour. Thus, freed from fear, Salernitana manages to play on equal terms and have opportunities with Kastanos and Cabral. At the same time, Inter lost their fury and measure on the pitch, with Klaassen laboriously searching for the best position and, above all, too many errors of inaccuracy at the moment of the jab. Thuram is a threat only in the few times when he can assert his physique in the area and when he can control the ball in the dangerous area, but he is always well controlled by Gyomber. Among other things, a clash in the area between the two causes the Inter bench to shout for a penalty.
THE CHANGES ARE DECISIVE
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Seeing as the second half began with increasing brazenness on the part of the Campania team, Inzaghi decided to make a change earlier than expected, with the triple substitution already in the 9th minute. Calha, strangely imprecise, leaves the direction to Asllani, while Micki is called to do additional work in place of Klaassen (postponed, more tests will be needed for the Dutchman). But, above all, Lautaro comes in to give substance after Sanchez’s ups and downs. With the Argentine next to the Frenchman, completely different music is played in attack, also because the connection between the two emerges more naturally and Toro proves to have the right leg, the one at the beginning of the season: evidently even a half-time and pennies on the bench is served to recharge the batteries. After some good preparatory ideas, the Nerazzurri captain manages to “split” a game that was anything but easy: his dig at Ochoa on the way out, after an assist from his twin Marcus, is a beauty.
IT SPREADS
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The 1-0, however, does not give the Nerazzurri the right amount of peace of mind, as they risk a lot especially in coming out from the bottom, and does not dampen the excitement of a proud Salernitana team. The hosts would also have found an equalizer with the introduction of Legowski following an imaginative assist from the Argentine talent from the San Lorenzo Martegani school, but a few centimeters of offside saved Inter. From that moment on, Sousa’s ambitions for a comeback began to fade until an incomprehensible error by Ochoa put a damper on the game: the Mexican gave the ball to Dumfries who from there passed it to Barella, then on Nicolò’s cross the Toro turned in goal for the brace. When Thuram gets a penalty after a foul by the disastrous Lovato, Toro continues his party: he scores from a penalty for the hat-trick. Which becomes poker on Carlos Augusto’s cross: his easy left foot is worth the tenth goal in eight games. Excellent way for him and Inter to regain their lead in the league and prepare for Benfica.
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