Italian champions Inter also beat Torino and on the day of the championship celebration they keep alive both the objective of exceeding the 97 points achieved by Mancini in 2006-07 and that of exceeding 100. The victory is not an easy one for Inzaghi’s men suffered against the Granata in the first half and only passed in the second half, after the red card to Tameze: at that point the Nerazzurri tide became uncontainable and Calhanoglu scored the decisive brace, with all of San Siro singing for the Turk. For Inter, match number 42 with at least one goal and a Juventus record only two matches away, but it is also the twentieth clean sheets of the season: also in this case there is an air of record in a championship that is turning into a long catwalk for Lautaro and his teammates. Torino, on the other hand, will have the opportunity to return to the European zone on Friday at home against Bologna: they haven’t won in four matches and haven’t scored in three. Against Thiago Motta’s team a feat is needed.
BETTER THE BULL
—
Inzaghi fields the starting players with the exception of the injured Acerbi and Dimarco, replaced respectively by De Vrij and Carlos Augusto, while Juric responds with the back four and Zapata as the sole striker. The first shot is from Rodriguez, with Sommer saving; Thuram replies with a slalom that ends with a shot off target. Ricci plays the raider behind the former Atalanta Colombian, Lazaro stays high on the left and Vlasic has the ability to move, but especially widens to the right, drawing a stinging 4-2-3-1 in the possession phase: Torino demonstrates to have the desire and not to be at the Inter party to act as sparring partners. Zapata warms Sommer’s gloves again as he clears them and, in terms of chances, the start is more grenade than Nerazzurri also because the number 91, after the quarter of an hour, sends the ball just wide, with the Swiss goalkeeper out cause. Inter, with only three training sessions a week under their belt and influenced by the atmosphere of celebrations in the stadium, have less fire inside than usual and Juric slows them down further with Ricci’s pressing on playmaker Calhanoglu. The ball turns less quickly, the execution times are not the usual ones and Toro only concedes one shot on target, to Lautaro, at the end of the first half. Rodriguez and his teammates are better on points.
Subscribe to G ALL for only €3.99/month! Inter Scudetto front page poster included
DOUBLE CALHA
—
The second half opens with the expulsion of Tameze who stops Mkhitaryan on the edge of the area: Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi brings out the yellow because the Armenian, before the contact, seems to move with the ball to the outside, but is called back to the monitor from the VAR and changes his decision by drawing the red. Grenade protests: the expulsion is in fact excessive, too severe. The referee lets himself be influenced by VAR by changing his first decision which was correct. Juric switches to 5-3-1, but clearly the pressure on Calhanoglu is no longer there and Inter begins to dribble with freedom. The storm mounts in a few moments and, on a ball lost by Lazaro, after a nice combination between Barella, Lautaro and Mkhitaryan, the former Roma player serves the assist for the 1-0 to Calhanoglu, relentless with his diagonal. San Siro explodes and further pushes the team which finds the second goal from the spot: a dubious foul by Lovato in the area on Thuram (fifth penalty won of the season) and Calhanoglu, to whom Lautaro leaves the serve, further rounds his new league goals record (13). Juric throws Sanabria into the fray for Zapata and Vojvoda for Lazaro, while Inzaghi gives space to the second lines by deploying Sanchez, Asllani, Frattesi, Buchanan and Arnautovic, without however removing the captain, in search of the goal he has been missing since February 28th. Mission failed for Martinez, but Inter’s party can still continue. To break the deadlock, the Argentine who is still the league’s top scorer will have another chance on Saturday in Reggio Emilia against Sassuolo. Meanwhile, the open-top buses await the team for the party in the streets of Milan. It will be a long evening of celebration for the Nerazzurri people.
