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Inter have struggled their way to a win over Empoli. It took until extra time before Inter finally looked comfortable in the match.
At the end of the day, Inter are now through to the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia. You can excuse the performance with so many of the usual starters sitting on the bench.
Let’s look a bit further into the match itself.
Squad depth –
This was one of the first times of the season where Inter looked shaky against a mid table team. The match didn’t start the greatest as a silly foul on Correa led him to tear his hamstring.
In the fifth minute, Sanchez was brought onto the field in replacement of Correa. The sub would work out well though, as Sanchez would break open the match with the first goal.
A superb cross from Dumfries was met by the perfect header from Sanchez and the score was 1-0 to Inter.
This was the only positive thing for the first hour as Inter’s chemistry really lacked today. The midfield especially with Vecino, Vidal and Gagliardini just did not look comfortable together. Unfortunately all three players are very similar with their playing style so it was a mismatch for this Inter team from the opening whistle.
It’s crazy though to think that even when things aren’t going right that we can bring in a brand new team with so much quality. The likes of Barella, Hakan, Perisic and Dzeko coming into the match completely put this into Inter’s favour.
The ability to have so many classy players on the bench puts this Inter team in such a fantastic position in getting out of tricky situations.
Bambi on ice –
For close to 90 minutes, Ranocchia looked absolutely lost in the centreback position. Every time Empoli transitioned into a counter-attack, Inter looked in trouble. The stability at the back just wasn’t there today.
Inter conceded 2 goals in a match which they hadn’t done since November last year. With D’Ambrosio, Ranocchia and Dimarco in defence you can forgive them on this day.
The most positive part of the game was the equaliser in the 90th minute. A fantastic acrobatic effort from Ranocchia changed Inter’s fate to ensure we’re alive in all competitions.
A marvelous way to redeem himself as Ranocchia was very average in defence, but as a striker he would’ve been rated a 10 out of 10. Since Correa is now injured, we may already have a replacement without even realising it.
Of course he does!
It’s funny, the moment we agreed a loan for Sensi, he comes on to score the winner. The injury prone “Mr Glass” would come on in extra time and score an absolute belter of a goal!
There have been talks of fans wanting Sensi to stay after this performance, but we have to understand that this doesn’t change the last 2 years of disappointment from him.
The only option is that Sensi gets fit, smashes it on his loan at Sampdoria and then we are able to sell him to a club in the summer. Stefano Sensi has no future at Inter and we have to accept that.
It was great to see Sensi score that goal though. As an admirer of Sensi for a long time, we’ve always been wanting the best so to send him out in this fashion at least lets him leave with a great memory.
Where to next?
Inter are still at home where we will host Venezia. There has been talks in Italy with COVID cases skyrocketing in Venice, so the visitors may not be able to travel.
This would be another disappointing fixture if there was to be another no-show at an Inter game.
We shall see what happens over the next couple of days.
Prediction: Inter 4-0
As always, Forza Inter!
