MILANO – In a much more difficult match than expected, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter won narrowly at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan against Venezia by Eusebio Di Francesco – who entrusts the keys of the midfield to former Juventus player Hans Nicolussi Caviglia for 90′ – thanks to Lautaro Martinez’s goal and moves to -1 from Napoli by Antonio Conte, league leaders, overwhelmed today at Maradona by Atalanta. The Nerazzurri dominated throughout the first half, but risked a lot at the end of the half, with Oristanio kicking against Sommer two meters from the goal line. More balanced recovery, with very high rhythms and continuous reversals in front: what makes the difference is the Toro’s head kick on an assist to Federico Dimarco’s kiss. The Piacenza coach finds Calhanoglu, absent in the last few outings, thrown into the mix 20′ from time in place of Barella. Then, in the 98th minute, the away equalizer was annulled by VAR due to an alleged touch with Sverko’s hand, which the images do not clarify and which infuriated the lagoon players.
Inter-Venice 1-0, the news
Inzaghi changes three men compared to Empoli, he doesn’t think about Arsenal and sends onto the field the eleven that played the Italian derby against Juventus last Sunday. Lautaro Martinez does not rest, lined up alongside Thuram, he returns from injury but Calhanoglu sits on the bench. Di Francesco puts himself in the mirror and in his 3-5-2, up front with Pohjanpalo, there is room for Oristanio. On a Dumfries tower he controls Lautaro from the chest and volleys, sending it just wide: only the first of the many opportunities created by Inter who came close to scoring several times. A left-footed shot from Bastoni ends up high while Thuram wastes a restart favored by a ball recovery from Dimarco. The Frenchman again comes face to face with Stankovic but shoots towards the outside of the net. Two minutes later the Venezia goalkeeper was practically hit by Mkhitaryan who missed a moving penalty at the end of a nice quick move on the Lautaro-Dumfries axis. Before the break there was also a great chance for the lagoon players: Idzes broke through on the left and put it in the centre, Pohjanpalo hit badly but actually provided an assist to Oristanio hits Sommer squarely from two steps away. The intensity grows further and the opportunities are plentiful at the start of the second half. Inter also took the lead with a winning insertion from Mkhitaryan but the VAR intervenes to signal an offside position by Dimarco, the author of the assist, and cancels the Nerazzurri goal. On the other side, Haps finds Pohjanpalo in the area who, from an excellent position, is unable to angle the shot and Sommer blocks it. Then again the hosts with a missed tap-in by Mkhitaryan and a header by Dumfries, extended by Stankovic over the crossbar. Prolonged pressure puts the guests on the ropes, the goal is in the air and arrives in the 65th minute: Dimarco raises his head from the left and draws a millimeter cross which meets the far post with the close-range and winning header from Lautaro Martineznothing to do for the goalkeeper. After the 1-0, Inter didn’t stop and pushed to close the matter. Stankovic wins the duel with Thuram twice and then also saves from the outside shot of the substitute Calhanoglu. Inzaghi’s team also claims a penalty for a hand in the area by Sverko, but before the obvious irregularity, there was a Thuram’s offside reported again by VAR. The many wasted opportunities could cost the Nerazzurri dearly as they suffered in the final assault from Di Francesco’s eleven. At the last action, on a cross from Haps, Sverko makes it 1-1: VAR, however, stops everything and cancels the goalthen comes the final whistle which makes San Siro explode with joy.
