Three points and many thrills. L'Inter beats Venice in the photo finish and thus escapes +5 on Milan, waiting for tonight's match with the Juventus that could give you a piece of the Scudetto. So far everything is normal, except that to get the better of the Venetians, without five players due to Covid, a far from simple comeback was needed, completed by a goal from Dzeko in the 90th minute. In short, it can be said that the "crazy Inter" is back, at least looking at the last 10 days, considering the successes with Juventus in the Super Cup and Empoli in the Italian Cup.
Once again, net of a pinch of luck, however, we saw the great variety of Inzaghi's offensive solutions, both in men (Dumfries' entry changed the match) and in plays. And so, after Barella's goal (40', however born from a possible foul by Dzeko on Modolo) who had responded to Henry's initial one (19'), it was a nice header to direct the 3 points towards Milan by Edin himself, beautifully served by the Dutch full-back with a cross only to be pushed into the back of the bag.
However, there remains the feeling of a less brilliant team than some time ago, paradoxically a little weakened by the Christmas break, as if it had lowered nervous tension, but also the certainty that this Inter always manages to get over it, even when their legs are spinning less and the games go badly. “Dzeko has solved a big problem for us, but all of it the team believed in it until the end – comment satisfied with Inzaghi -. The lads did well considering the goal conceded at the start and the many minutes in the final period, but the biggest problem is the San Siro pitch, for us and for Milan. For 20-25 days the problem has gotten worse, the club has already taken steps to try to solve it because it has never been like this: we must try to remedy it as soon as possible ". We'll talk about it again after the break, when Inter will still be in command of the championship, regardless of today's results.
Yesterday however, in addition to the Nerazzurri's match against Venice, there was also a very interesting event Lazio-Atalanta, important both for the Scudetto fight and for that of Europe. Much ado about nothing, one might say, were it not for the fact that the 0-0 final is above all the result of the situation of the from Bergamo, literally tortured by Covid, so much so that the draw at the Olimpico was celebrated as a victory. Yeah, because it's good to have an offensive mentality but if you're forced to play without Zapata, Muriel, Ilicic and Malinovskyi, just to mention the front four, it's hard to think you can win games. Gasperini thus changed his game system, transforming the Goddess into a defense and counter-attack team, thus making a virtue of necessity. “We could have done more, but it's hard for me not to be happy – explained the coach in the press room -. Many players were out of position, we had to make do, to do more we had to have more alternatives in attack: it's not just Zapata, Malinovskyi, Muriel were also missing, not to mention Boga, who hasn't joined us yet. We have to accept this emergency situation, facing Lazio with ten players out and having kept them at a distance, with a game to recover, is good for morale".
On the other hand, morale at Lazio is different, where there is the feeling of having wasted an important opportunity in the face of a decimated opponent, perhaps the last one to shorten the standings and attempt a Champions comeback. The Biancocelesti have tried very little, building only one real opportunity with Zaccagni, stopped by the post, in the face of a game with few flashes, without the ability to undermine the defense of the Goddess. “Did they lack many players? To the five of us, plus two that I found yesterday – he retorted Sarri -. The positive aspect is that, for a month now, we've been on the pitch as a real team, we've also had a good offensive phase, because we've easily reached the frontline, with a good dribble. We missed the last 20 metres, but we came from a game that ended in extra time, at a time when we squeezed the same players, especially in midfield: we paid for it in terms of brilliance".
The championship Saturday thus ends with Inter on the run and Atalanta held back, which makes the Sunday we are about to experience even more electrifying: those chasing the Nerazzurri can't go wrong, those aiming for fourth place cannot waste the chance to close.
