There's no two without three. Two and a half years since the last time, Inter have managed to win their third game in a row, which pushes them overwhelmingly close to the European zone. Cagliari's success, as important as it was suffered, brings the Genoese back into the sights (who will recover the derby today at 18.30) and, above all, Fiorentina and Lazio, now 4 and 5 points away respectively. Quite a leap for those who, just two weeks ago, sadly occupied the right side of the standings, submerged by problems that seemed to have no solutions. Not that everything is going smoothly now, but Inter are back on track and the results, albeit with a few too many worries, are finally starting to smile.
“We continually improve, even if we always complicate our lives – Mancini thought. – Up to 2-0 we played very well, then, also thanks to tiredness, we let ourselves be crushed by Cagliari. I'm satisfied but it's not yet the time to look at the standings: we have to play and win, starting with Thursday against Celtic." The Nerazzurri coach doesn't want to ease the tension and he has good reason: to really climb the standings, missteps will no longer be allowed. In any case, his Inter is growing, both tactically and mentally, even in an evening full of traps like that of Sant'Elia.
With the cup match just played and the next one just around the corner, Mancini opted for a turnover that is as inevitable as it is risky. Steps for the Ranocchia-Vidic changeover (indeed, one wonders why it didn't happen earlier), but giving up Shaqiri and Palacio by virtue of Kovacic and Podolski presented several pitfalls. The first half seemed to prove Mancio's detractors right: the Croatian wandered around the field in search of inspiration, the German missed three sensational goals. But at the beginning of the second half the turning point came: Kovacic exploited a bank from Icardi and beat Brkic with a left foot under the cross (47'). Cagliari, desperately looking for safety points, foamed with rage and came close to equalizing with M'Poku (this Belgian boy is really interesting) and Cossu, unfortunate in kicking very high face to face with Carrizo.
Wrong goal conceded goal, the oldest law of football also struck at Sant'Elia: in the 68th minute Icardi got rid of Capuano and sent the ball into the seven with a splendid left foot. Closed game? Not a chance. The Nerazzurri, as we know, are crazy by definition and managed to revive Cagliari. Who first found a 1-2 with Longo (for the scoresheet, however, it was Carrizo's own goal), then repeatedly came close to equalizing forcing Mancini's to a good 20 minutes of suffering. But the same, exacerbated by a Hernanes cross, turned into joy at Mazzoleni's final whistle, which certified that third consecutive victory ever achieved in the Mazzarri era. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen better and better, now all that remains is to drive well to avoid dangerous skids.
