THIAGO MOTTA – COUTINHO AND INTER BEGIN THE RACE.
THE NERAZZURRI REJOICE, BUT THE GOAL THAT UNLOCKS THE GAME IS OFFSIDE.
IRONIC BALLARDINI: “WE KNOW THAT AT SAN SIRO…”
VOTE: 6,5
And it was a victory. All that was needed by the Nerazzurri, who will have to try to get the maximum possible between now and Christmas to move up the standings. Mind you, Mourinho's Inter is still a distant memory, but the fans have to be content with what the convent passes, and in this case they can't complain. The first half of Inter – Cagliari did not bode well for the nerazzurri, slow, messy and unlucky (two crossbars hit, one by Pazzini, the other by Zarate). The wheel however turned at the start of the second half, when Inter took the lead thanks to the award-winning company Thiago Motta – Damato, with the kind collaboration of the linesman. In fact, the Nerazzurri midfielder was clearly offside, so the goal had to be disallowed. That wasn't the case, and Inter took advantage of the enthusiasm to hit the bewildered Cagliari once again, this time with a beautiful (and regular) goal from Coutinho, in the field for Wesley Sneijder's last-minute forfeit. The Sardinians tried to get their heads back up, but Larrivey's goal came too late to make a sensational comeback. Claudio Ranieri was satisfied after the match, if only for an important victory both for the standings and for morale: “It was a match where we always controlled the opponent, who never shot on goal in the first half. What did I think after the two sleepers? That we can't have a quiet day, but we have to keep fighting because our championship will be like this. Thiago Motta's goal? It's true, he was offside. For once we smile…”.
Certainly, however, Ballardini wasn't smiling, on the first bench in this second Cagliari adventure of his career: "We know that offsides are hard to see at San Siro..." he commented caustically after the match. We understand his bitterness, a little less the annoying conspiracy, which in these times of sentences and peace tables, is really useless.
