In the end he enjoys it Inter. The Coppa Italia derby is colored by Nerazzurri, with Conte's men going in the semifinals waiting for the winner of Juventus-Spal tonight (20.45), while those of Pioli record the first big disappointment of the season. A free-kick by Eriksen in injury time was decisive, the very one who, until yesterday, lived essentially separated at home and who instead, from today, could start a new life at Inter. But the derby number 227 of the Madonnina will go down in history not only for the technical gestures: to tell, in fact, there is the bad fight between Ibrahimovic and Lukaku, before the Swede was expelled in the second half for a foul on Kolarov by referee Valeri, who in turn suffered a muscle injury and was replaced in the final by the fourth official Chiffi.
In short, more than a derby, the one at San Siro has turned into a real OK Corral, on balance in favor of Inter. Yes, because the chaos at the end of the first half, rare even on a football field (unrepeatable phrases from both sides, on which there could be an excerpt from sports justice), ended up damaging above all Ibrahimovic, who returned to the field more nervous and author of a foul on Kolarov as silly as it is obvious: Valeri could not help but draw the second yellow card, leaving the Rossoneri in 10. And to say that Ibrahimovic had been the great protagonist of the first half, with the splendid 1-0 goal (31') to seal a performance of class and experience. Until minute 58 though, why leaving the team outnumbered, evidently, it is an error that weighs heavily on the economy of the match.
From there Inter, which had already been more dangerous before, has literally taken over the field, creating several dangers on Tatarusanu's goal, to then strike in the 71st minute, when Leao fouled Barella for a clear penalty that Lukaku converted into gold with the help of the crossbar. Pioli, the hint is understood, tried to take cover by inserting a midfielder (Krunic) for a striker (Leao), but Inter continued to push, looking for the decisive episode. Which arrived a few minutes from the end, to be precise in the 97th minute: the muscle injury of the referee Valeri, in fact, had led to a maxi-delay of 10', exploited to the fullest by the nerazzurri. A silly foul by Meité offered Eriksen, who had entered Brozovic's place shortly before, a free-kick from the edge: a gift that the Dane, a specialist in the role, slipped behind the immobile (and innocent) Tatarusanu.
Inter therefore flies to the semifinals, where they will meet the winner of Juventus-Spal: the Ferrarese don't want it but the possibility of a double derby of Italy, evidently, it is very strong. "We reach this milestone for the second consecutive year and the credit goes to the players who played well in the match against an excellent team - commented Tale – Milan are not first by chance and the fact of having eliminated him makes me happy. Even in eleven against eleven we had important chances and I think we didn't deserve to be at a disadvantage, their goalkeeper was the man of the match, then after Ibrahimovic's sending off we reversed the result. Eriksen? I'm happy that he scored this goal, I hope it melts away his shyness a bit, he's a too decent and clean boy. The dispute between Lukaku and Ibra? I didn't talk to him and didn't understand what happened. I know that during the game there may be situations that are over the top, the important thing is that everything stays in the right dimension. On the one hand, I was pleased to see him react and argue with a winner like Zlatan, if he gets angry every now and then it only makes me happy ”.
“I'm sorry we left because we cared about the Coppa Italia – he replied Pioli – The challenge told us that we can keep up with a very strong team like Inter, then it wasn't easy with ten players. I don't know what Ibra and Lukaku said to each other, they are adults and vaccinated. Rather we were naive to cause the draw penalty, but I got positive responses from the group: I come out very positive from this defeat and confident for the future".
The first semi-finalist is therefore Inter, who will challenge the winner of Juventus-Spal, another will exit the match between Atalanta and Lazio (17.45 pm), while the last one will come out tomorrow Naples-Spezia.
In the meantime, days are also hot on the market front, with one of the most valuable pieces that has found a home: it is the Papu Gomez, moved to Sevilla for 7,5 million (3rd season for him until 2024). The other certainly is Dzeko, now separated at home with Roma: yesterday Fonseca made him train separately, making it official Pellegrini as new captain. Situation in progress therefore, with Juventus (but Scamacca is liked more due to age) and Inter very interested spectators, ready to place what, to all intents and purposes, could prove to be the Scudetto shot.
