Pio Esposito Emerges As The Hero As Inter Take A Huge Step Forward In The Title Race
It mmight have been a win and three points secured for former Serie A champions, Inter Milan against lowly placed Lecce but it was a hard fought win at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium against a stubborn opponent that proved to be much harder to break down despite the difference between the two teams.
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In tthe end, it required a goal in the second half from substitute, Francesco Pio Esposito to finally break down the visitors and to Inter a victory, taking advantage of Napoli’s hiccup to secure their title as Winter Champions plus a huge advantage in the title race.
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Before kick off, Inter remained three points clear at the top after the thrilling 2-2 draw with Napoli, but lost Hakan Calhanoglu for a month, with Denzel Dumfries, Matteo Darmian, Josep Martinez, Raffaele Di Gennaro and Tomas Palacios already out of action through injuries.
Hence, Cristian Chivu decided to rotate his squad for this Week 16 fixture rescheduled from December due to Supercoppa Italiana commitments and for the opponent, they had Lameck Banda, Kialonda Gaspar and Ylber Ramadani suspended after the chaotic 2-1 defeat to Parma.
In that game, which was their last, they ended the match with nine men, scraping one point from three rounds. Francesco Camarda and Medon Berisha were out injured, but Woyo Coulibaly returned from AFCON duty, while Omri Gandelman was thrown straight into the starting XI.
Despite the rotations, Inter were the clear favourites to win and they made their intentions clear in the early stage of the match as Wladimiro Falcone got down quickly to make a very tricky fingertip save on Ange-Yoan Bonny’s daisy-cutter from the edge of the area.
Soon after, Piotr Zielinski blasted over after a give and go, but Marcus Thuram was booked for simulation after going down too easily under pressure from Santiago Pierotti and then the referee was more convinced by another soft connection between Bonny and Danilo Veiga, pointing to the spot despite the contact being minimal.
However, VAR showed him the footage, showing that the Lecce player got a boot to the ball first, so it was revoked but Inter kept going as Thuram’s header went over and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s scorcher was deflected off target by Jamil Siebert, but in first half stoppage, the away side had their first chance.
Riccardo Sottil went on the counter only to fire wide with Yann Sommer off his line and just like in the first half, Inter started strongly in the second half as they had a big chance after the restart, as first Falcone stuck up one glove to push a Nicolò Barella header out from under the bar on the Carlos Augusto cross.
Then the move continued for Andy Diouf to drill wide and moments later, the former Lens man also tested the keeper with a weak finish moments later abs Thuram’s right-foot curler was charged down, but with no breakthrough in sight, Inter threw on Francesco Pio Esposito and Lautaro Martinez for a trident attack.
On the other hand, this left them unbalanced and Lecce had a big chance on 74 minutes when Mohamed Kaba dribbled into the area, laying it off for Siebert’s deflected finish from 14 yards, forcing a one-handed Sommer save for their biggest chance in the game.
Soon after, Inter came knocking and Falcone was also at full stretch to fingertip away the Pio Esposito glancing header on a Luis Henrique ball into the box, but the deadlock was finally broken in the 78 minutes thanks to the Esposito who scored his second goal with the club this season.
The youngster knocked down a Zielinski ball for Lautaro Martinez, whose ferocious strike was parried from 12 yards, but the Italian was ready to turn in the rebound and light up the mood inside the stadium for the only goal of the game that ultimately won him the man of the match award plus a hug from Chivu.
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The 18-year-old nearly added a second moments later, cutting inside to shimmy away from a defender and bending the finish inches wide but the Nerazzurri managed to hang on for the win with three massive points that has now helped them put some distance between them and the other title contenders.
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