Inter would wait until the 73rd minute to undeservedly break the deadlock through a Lukaku penalty. The final score would finish 1-0, which now means Inter have won five league games in a row. Inter sit one point behind ladder leaders Milan.
In a match where Inter didn’t deserve a point, they would take all three against a strong Napoli side. As Inter have found in previous matches, it doesn’t matter how many shots on goal or how much possession. The ball needs to get into the back of the net.
Conte’s Plan B
It all makes sense now, or should I say Sensi now.
Conte’s obvious Plan A is play the ball through the flanks and hope a cross will make it’s way into the box for anyone to score.
There hasn’t been a Plan B for a long time as Stefani Sensi has been constantly injured for the past season. How much of a difference a fit Sensi makes to the style of how Inter play.
Direct, free flowing and fast football is how Inter’s style could be described when Sensi is on the pitch. Inter fans have hoped Eriksen was the “Plan B” but we are quickly finding out this is not the case. When Sensi is available Conte has no use for Eriksen and Sensi is his main gamechanger.
Fingers crossed the glass man Stefano can still healthy for the remainder of the season and Conte does put too much workload on him.
Batmanovic saves the day –
A goalkeeping masterclass from Il Capitano Handanovic, who proved all his haters wrong. Those saying “your time is up” got a taste of their own medicine with a man of the match performance by the big Slovenian.
There was about four 1-on-1 situations where Handanovic took on the challenge and came up trumps. Unbelievable how he stopped a few of those goal-bound chances as it took us back down memory lane to that game years ago against Sampdoria.
This was the Handanovic of the past which Inter fans fell in love with. This was the Handanovic who won “Best Serie A Goalkeeper” on three separate occasions. We need to see more of these performances!
Defence wins matches –
It’s undeniable that De Vrij, Bastoni and Skriniar are Inter’s best hopes of winning an silverware this season.
Watching these three together in defence must’ve felt like how people watching Michelangelo sculpting David was. It’s the creation of a masterpiece and a beautiful work of art we must admire.
Another clean sheet with these three playing in front of Handanovic is what all Inter supporters would’ve hoped for before the season began.
Looking back, why did Conte ever want to cash in on Skriniar to Tottenham? Would’ve been one of the mot ridiculous transfers to start this decade.
Shocking referee performance –
It almost felt like we were watching Fifa Street in that first half. There were blatant challenges and handballs missed. Both sets of fans would’ve been scratching their heads in confusion.
Even in the second half, the red card to Insigne was a little over the top, then the ref started handing out yellow cards like hot-cakes. In the final 15 minutes of the match there would be 5 yellow cards.
It was like we had two different referee’s if you compared the first half to the second half. It’s like he got a call at half time and got told to make this game interesting.
Where to next?
Inter will host Serie A newcomers Spezia in what should result in an Inter win. Especially since Juventus and Milan have both beaten Spezia by 3 goals.
With Milan away from home facing Sassuolo, a result there to the home side could put Inter on top of the table. Fingers crossed but let’s see what gameday 13 has in store for us.
Written by Matthew Pickham
