Missed overtaking. Inter lose their third consecutive league match against Fiorentina, stopping two points behind Lazio who will thus remain alone in second place, even if they lose in Monza. But above all, beyond the missed opportunity, Inzaghi’s team sinks into a crisis that is not only in the standingsbecause the Viola deservedly win their fifth consecutive match, with a run of nine goals scored and only one conceded. An authentic take-off that rhymes with the collapse of Inter, without the slightest excuse because this time there is no suspect arm in the action that yields the 1-0 goal signed by Bonaventura. And therefore, before you take it out again with the referee, above all criticism, or with bad luck, Inzaghi should blame his players, starting with the inaccurate Lukaku and also with himself, for the initial choice to bring back his pupil Correa excluding Lautaro, and for the subsequent substitutions that upset the team even more. And so this defeat hurts even more than the previous two against Spezia and Juventus, because it comes at the beginning of an important cycle, on the eve of the first Italian cup semi-final against Juventus and the double confrontation with Benfica. Because it’s certainly not by playing like against Fiorentina that one can cultivate hopes of defending at least fourth place in the league and making progress in the cups, in Italy and in Europe.
REGRET LAUTARO – As if the injured Dimarco, Skriniar and Calhanoglu weren’t enough, evidently thinking of the first match against Juventus, Inzaghi initially leaves Lautaro on the bench, together with Dzeko, preferring Correa as Lukaku’s teammate. A very questionable choiceboth because the Argentine hasn’t started in over two months, and above all because he does everything to make Lautaro regret, playing on his own without the slightest understanding with Lukaku. With the aggravating circumstance that the Belgian centre-forward seems to be a distant relative of the forward after his good performances in the national team with four goals in two games. Apparently quick, but then sloppy in control and late in finishing a couple of Dumfries crosses from the right, Lukaku is more like the twin who has disappointed too many times with the Inter shirt. And so Mikhitaryan’s sprint flying into the opponent’s area is useless, stopped only by Terracciano’s only real intervention in the first half.
BETTER PURPLE – It’s true that in terms of opportunities, Inter have had no less than Fiorentina, but in terms of play and initiative the Italian team proved to be superior right from the first minutes, confirming itself as a team, unlike Inzaghi’s which relies only on ideas from individuals. In such cases, however, if individuals are unable to make a difference, those who are more organized have the upper hand. And this is precisely the merit of Fiorentinabecause Brozovic returned to direct the central department struggles to unmark his teammates, especially Gosens who makes a silent scene on the left, while Darmian, Acerbi and Bastoni suffer from the accelerations of their neighbors Ikonè, Castrovilli and Saponara who are insistently looking for the central forward Cabral .
INZAGHI’S DELAY – While the Italian replaces Quarta with Milenkovic after the interval, Inzaghi confirms the same team that suffered in the first half and is immediately punished. Bonaventura, a former AC Milan player who still smells the derby, is good at deflecting his head always a correction of Cabral’s head on a corner kick, with the complicity of the whole defensive department. Forced to react, if only out of pride, Inter nearly equalized with Barella hitting the post, but this too was an isolated initiative that didn’t scare Fiorentina, who were close to doubling their lead with Ikonè. Only at that point, with guilty delay, Inzaghi relaunches Lautaro in place of the useless Correawith the addition of Bellanova and De Vrij who take over Gosens and Bastoni respectively.
DESPERATE MOVES – More with the nerves than with the game Inter at least tries to equalize, holding on to Inzaghi’s classic moves of desperation. For the final assault here is Asllani for Mikhitaryan and above all Dzeko for Brozovic, but Fiorentina have the great merit of defending themselves in order and restarting with danger, almost doubling with Cabral in the fourth of the five minutes of added time. Just enough to understand that he steals absolutely nothing, reopening the wounds of an Inter that is increasingly in crisis.
