Victories were to be and victories were. Napoli and Inter take advantage of the missteps of Rome and Milan and get closer in the standings, albeit with decidedly different positions. Because if Sarri's men can now be considered out of the crisis and back in full Champions tussle, Pioli's are still far from the expectations at the beginning of the season and need further confirmation.
The Sunday cover rightfully takes it out on Dries Mertens, author of a poker that literally annihilated poor Mihajlovic's Toro. The Belgian is in flaming condition, as demonstrated by the 7 goals scored in the last two games: and to think that until a few weeks ago it was precisely his interpretation as a "false nueve" that aroused doubts and perplexities.
“He is an extraordinary player but it is the whole team that facilitates him with the game – explained Sarri. – We did very well but we still have to improve in terms of mentality, this was a closed match and instead we reopened it with three silly things they could have avoided”.
In 5-3 at the San Paolo, in fact, there is a lot of positive but also a little something to review. Because if it's true that the Azzurri dominated and could have scored at least as many goals, it's also true that something too much was conceded back there, especially in the second half. Mental issue precisely, a problem that can be overcome if the goal is the Champions League area, definitely dangerous if you want to try and annoy Juventus.
In addition to Mertens, however, the goals of Chiriches (70') for Napoli and those of Belotti (58'), Rossettini (76') and Iago Falque (84') for Toro should be noted: a real festival of football show, even if only the Azzurri fans enjoyed themselves.
Far fewer goals instead in Reggio Emilia but Pioli doesn't care: Inter had to win and they did, albeit at the end of a tight and painful match. In fact, poor Sassuolo, decimated by injuries, stood up to the Nerazzurri throughout the match, even risking a sensational draw.
However, Inter had most of the chances and only the imprecision of Perisic and Brozovic prevented the result from being rounded off. It was Candreva who decided, who after coming close to scoring on two occasions (shot from distance saved by Consigli and the post) found it on the third with a close tap-in, after the same black-and-green goalkeeper had saved in the scrum (47' ).
“We fought with the right spirit, I saw so much sacrifice and this, for a coach, is a good sign – thought Pioli. – Talking about the Champions League, however, is decidedly premature, we just have to run and experience each match as if it were the turning point. It's just a pity we didn't close it sooner, after the advantage we could have managed things better but we are working hard to improve on this too".
In addition to the previously mentioned match goal by Candreva, the expulsion of Felipe Melo (double yellow, the second in full stoppage time) and the entry into the field of Gabigol, inserted by Pioli in the last 4', just at the moment of greatest suffering of his team. The Brazilian only got noticed for a silly yellow card, but in his defense it must be said that it is not easy (euphemism) to leave his mark by playing only a few minutes, moreover 3 months after the last time.
But the Inter manager, at the moment, has other priorities: above all, beating Lazio on Wednesday evening and really relaunching himself in the upper part of the standings.
