Inter Rise To The Top Of The Serie A Table After A Couple Of Other Results Went Their Way

After 15 round of matches played in the Italian Serie A this season, Inter Milan have taken the top spot on the table and they’re expected to hold that position for at least a week or more because they will be playing in the Supercoppa Italiana next week alongside other title contenders.

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The Nerazzurri had lots of help today to attain this position as AC Milan were held 2-2 by Sassuolo at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium and Napoli lost 1-0 to Udinese at the Bluenergy Stadium hence, Inter knew a win would leapfrog them to the top of the Serie A table.

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The visitors knew this was never going to be an easy fixture as they’ve been known to struggle at the Marassi stadium against this same opponent and they were shaken by a controversial Champions League defeat to Liverpool which halted their run of three straight win in the Serie A.

Also, Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi joined Denzel Dumfries, Matteo Darmian, Tomas Palacios and Raffaele Di Gennaro on the treatment table and for the home side, they were revitalised since Patrick Vieira’s dismissal, Daniele De Rossi overseeing two draws and two consecutive victories against Verona and Udinese.

There was trouble an hour before kick-off when Genoa (reports also had it that Napoli fans who didn’t travel to Udine were also among) and Inter fans clashed outside the stadium, setting cars on fire and prompting police to deploy tear gas but that wasn’t enough to stop the game from holding.

The hosts had a big early chance when Lorenzo Colombo got down the left and his pull-back was just beyond Vitinha sliding in from six yards but it was Inter that opened the scoring when Lautaro Martinez kept the ball in play at the by-line and found Yann Bisseck.

While the keeper was expecting a cross, he was wrong-footed on a low drive drilled into the near bottom corner for an early lead. Carlos Augusto nodded wide and Lautaro tested Leali from the edge of the area, while Pio Esposito forced a save from the on-rushing goalkeeper when holding off Sebastian Otoa to reach a Barella pass.

Inter doubled their lead when Barella’s cross-field pass sent Carlos Augusto down the left, he laid it off for Lautaro Martinez, who used his strength to turn Alessandro Marcandalli and smash the angled drive into the far bottom corner with the inside of the left boot to double their advantage.

The Inter captain was not done still as he also fired straight at Leali after the restart and Bisseck nodded a corner wide, but Genoa got back into the game with a moment of real skill from Vitinha even if much of the blame should also go to the Inter defenders and their lack of coordination.

The former Olympique Marseille striker gathered from Aaron Martin down the left, flicked it on with his heel to get away from two Inter defenders, cut inside to dribble around Yann Sommer and deposit into an empty net to reduce the scoreline and give his team a way back into the game.

Furthermore, he had help from Caleb Ekuban who held off a challenge from Manuel Akanji to allow his teammate through on goal. Albert Gronbaek’s free kick was easy for Sommer, but far tougher for Leali to parry Marcus Thuram’s header on a corner at the near post.

Sommer was tested more in stoppages, smothering the Caleb Ekuban glancing header on Jeff Ekhator’s cross but the Beneamata managed to hold on to the lead and will now head off to Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa Italiana with absolute confidence.

In a related development, Antonio Conte has admitted that that his players were ‘too worried, too fearful’ and that they have to improve on their record on the road after slipping to their seventh away defeat of the season in a 1-0 Serie A loss against Udinese.

A lone goal from Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was enough to defeat the reigning Serie A champions, who are now sat in third place. Currently, they’re having a tough time with injuries over the last few weeks and the situation doesn’t seem to be letting up soon for the club.

Kevin De Bruyne, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Billy Gilmour, Romelu Lukaku, Juan Jesus and Alex Meret have all spent time on the treatment table over the last few weeks, and months in some cases, hence, some of the choice for the starting line-up were inevitable.

Aside from swapping Leonardo Spinazzola for Mathias Olivera on Sunday, Conte named the same starting XI for three games in a row, within the space of seven days. “We didn’t concede any shots on goal in the first half, we could have made better of the chances we had.” He started out with.

“We struggled at the beginning of the second half, and you could tell there was a bit of fear from there on,” Conte told DAZN while reviewing his side’s performance against Udinese. “Two disallowed goals and a crossbar at the start of the second half,” he continued.

“We were too worried and too fearful, we needed to work hard. We have to play well, even in the difficult moments. We have to manage situations and we definitely have to improve. We have to be better at managing these moments, we have to tackle them with experience.”

Read Also: “Results Aside, The Team Is There And They Almost Always Play Better Than Their Opponents”

“We can’t lose courage or become overwhelmed. If you play like that, you run the risk of conceding, and we conceded. I have nothing negative to say about the guys who are giving their all in this emergency. We have to be better at managing games and bringing out more character away from home.” He further added.

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