Good Way To Start The New Year
After days of shuttling between the hospital and home, I finally found some time to settle down and look back at Inter’s first game of 2021.
Poor Start
January has traditionally been a dark period for Inter, one
that normally breaks a season. Therefore, when Crotone took the lead,
flashbacks of January past came flooding back. It was a soft goal to concede,
Junior Messias had all the time in the world to float in a cross from a short
corner and Nicollo Zanellato had so much space to nod in the opening goal.
Over-The-Hill Vidal
Arturo Vidal has not covered himself in glory since signing
for Inter. It is not the Vidal we were used to seeing at Juventus and Bayern
Munich, he looks off the pace and over-the-hill. The justification to sign him
as he would bring experience and winning mentality to the team has not been
true. He has cost Inter points but he has played decently well too sparingly.
In this match, we saw the good and the bad of Vidal. First, he was instrumental
in winning the ball high in Crotone’s half in the lead up to our second goal.
Then he went on to give away a penalty to allow Crotone a route back into the
game. It’s heartening to note that like the rest of us, Antonio Conte sees that
he is not performing at the level expected of him judging by his pitchside
exchange with the Chilean.
Return Of Sensi
It is said that a person’s loss is another’s gain. Vidal’s
loss is Stefano Sensi’s gain. Sensi made a great start to his Inter career last
season before injury curtailed large parts of it. It’s nice to see that he has
recovered from his latest injury. The way Conte is slowly easing him in is
needed to avoid another long period of absence. He came on in place for Vidal
and proved his quality. He has already made some impressive cameos in recent
games. Now all we need from him is to last 90 minutes for consecutive matches,
injury-free.
El Toro At His Best
Lautaro Martinez had a great game. He scored his first-ever Inter
hat-trick and it was the perfect hat-trick. The start he made to the game was
in line with his recent performances. He had the chance to spring Achraf Hakimi
clear with the score at 0-0 but his pass was underwhelming. But his afternoon
changed after scoring his first goal. He could have scored four or five on the
day. We thought he scored Inter’s second goal but it was credited as an own
goal. He had a chance at 2-2 to make it 3-2 but couldn’t fool Alex Cordaz with
his dummy. It was the best we have seen him play in a long time.
Lukaku 50
Romelu Lukaku scored his 50th Inter goal and became
the fastest player to reach that mark in Italian football in Inter’s history,
breaking the record set by Ronaldo. Compared to his time at Manchester United,
he has improved his first touch and ability to play with his back to the goal
which is how he scored his goal. But his contribution in the game was cut short
with an injury that would concern all Inter fans.
Tread Carefully
We are keeping the pressure on Milan and it would be extremely
important for Inter to not suffer a blackout this month. We tread this path
cautiously, bitten many times in the past.
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