Inter Implode In Rome

After watching one of my teams lose in a concerning and disheartening manner, I switched to another favourite team in Serie A, Inter. They too lost but the manner of the defeat is different.

Dominant Performance But Didn’t Finish It Off

This season, Inter has shown remarkable character and a strong winning mentality to ride out stormy periods of a game, overturn a deficit and win it. We did it against Hellas Verona, Fiorentina and Sassuolo. Against Lazio today, it was different. Inter took the lead from the penalty spot. Arguably the penalty was a bit soft but there was some contact and it was fairly given. Ivan Perisic took it and finished well. Up until that point, the game was even and after taking the lead, Inter dominated the game. We were comfortable but we were lacking the precision to create chances to increase the lead and that was gnawing at me. I remember what happened at the Stadio Olimpico last season against Lazio where we took the lead and were comfortable until out of the blue, Lazio scored.

History Repeating Itself

History repeated itself today when out of nothing, Lazio got a lifeline when they got a penalty. Alessandro Bastoni was unlucky as the ball hit his hand in the box as he jumped to head the ball. It was involuntary and accidental but according to the rules, it is legitimately given. Immobile scored and equalised for Lazio. At 1-1, the game was still even.

Controversial But Legitimate Second Goal

Inter could still get back into the game and retake its lead had they been more precise with their final ball or cross but we weren’t. Then came the controversial moment which saw Lazio take the lead. From the time we started playing football as kids, we have been told to play to the whistle but still we stubbornly don’t follow it and start to refereeing the game. There is an unspoken rule in football where if a player is down injured, you kick it out of play to allow the player to get some treatment, it is sportsmanship. Players do misuse this unspoken rule to run down time or kill the momentum of the game but it is not a written rule that the game has to stop when a player is lying on the floor injured for a non-head injury. Lazio played to the whistle and Inter didn’t and they went on the counter-attack to take an undeserved lead.

Inter Lose Their Head

That goal made the Inter players mad and it resulted in a melee. Looking back at the goal, had Federico Dimarco been fit, he would have probably been where Anderson was when he scored Inter’s goal. They have a reason to feel mad emotionally but practically, it was legitimate. After that, I thought we could channel our anger into getting an equaliser at least but instead we conceded the third goal and suffered our first league defeat.

Agree With Inzaghi’s Assessment

I agree with Simone Inzaghi’s assessment that it was the best we have played in a long time but a team like Inter must see out the game when they are on top and we didn’t. It is not a defeat that will worry me because we played well and it is a rare defeat. If anything, I felt Inzaghi got some of his substitutions wrong. I can understand why Joaquin Correa was brought on before Lautaro Martinez but Correa had heavy strapping on his thigh which was indicative of an injury. He was ineffectual when he came on. Maybe bringing on Hakan Calhanoglu as a supporting striker would have been the better option? Or maybe he shouldn’t have brought off Ivan Perisic because he wasn’t doing too much wrong. Ifs and buts now. We need to bounce back immediately from the midweek Champions League match before the Derby D’Italia next week.