Inter have been victorious in Empoli after D’Ambrosio saved a certain goal and then scored one of his own. Final score finishing 2-0 to Inter.
A match where it was great to get some confidence, but in reality this Inter team should’ve won by more.
Let’s look into some key points from the match.
Man of the match –
There were some decent performances today with Darmian, Barella and Sanchez playing well for Inter. However, we can’t go past todays best Danilo D’Ambrosio.
It was great to see Danilo back in the starting team which allowed Skriniar to rest. Our team has great depth when any player can come into the depth and be the best on the park.
The standout moment has to be that shot which D’Ambrosio put his body in front of two yards from the goal line. An incredible bit of skill where he was in the right place at the perfect time.
Handanovic was beaten as he was going the other way and D’Ambrosio positioned his body so the shot deflected out of danger. A truly phenomenal effort which changed the course of the match.
Not long after, D’Ambrosio would be rewarded with a goal after a fantastic run into the box. Sanchez hit the mark with his dink over the defence and D’Ambrosio was good enough to put the ball into the back of the net.
I’m sure we’ll see D’Ambrosio save Inter again sometime this year, as it’s not the first time in his career. I always love seeing the Spider-Man celebration after a goal too!
Clean sheet.. About time!
This is only the second clean sheet of the season after the first came on Matchday 1. It’s been a long time between drinks so I’m sure the Inter players will be happy about that.
It was a match where Inter didn’t give many opportunities to Empoli. A couple of long range shots were all Empoli could really offer besides the great opportunity mentioned earlier which was stopped by D’Ambrosio.
The most pleasing thing was even without Skriniar, we still looked very solid. So I’m sure Inzaghi will be able to rotate the squad a little better than previous weeks now that he has confidence in our backup players.
Darmian was sublime today too, as he linked up well with D’Ambrosio to keep that right side of the field safe and sound. Every time we saw Danilo go up the field, Matteo slotted into that back three to secure the defence.
Inter will be very successful if we keep building those partnerships around the field. Especially when it comes to the defence so we aren’t hit on the counter.
Most pleasing thing –
For me, there is nothing more satisfying than a team who plays for the full 90 minutes. Yes, Empoli went down to 10 men but Inter never stopped playing football. Even until the final kick in the first half we were looking to score a goal, and the same could be seen at the end of the 90 minutes.
This Inter team was hungry for more and that’s very pleasing. We may have only scored two goals today, but in games where we are looking for a winner late in the match then I’m sure that this desire will be decisive.
After two league fixtures for Inter against Lazio and Juventus with poor second halves, I felt like this was the perfect reaction. We are the reigning Serie A champions so every team wants to test us and for sure that’s happening now.
Against Lazio we were tested and failed, but there were positive signs of togetherness when everything hit the fan. Against Juve, we again faced adversity with some terrible VAR intervention through that penalty. It was a disappointing ending.
Did this stop us from putting in a good performance today? No! That’s a very positive sign and could be the defining moment to get this Inter team back on track.
Where to next?
There is no easy game in Serie A, and this weekend will show that. I think Inter will get the win but they’ll be tested for the full 90 minutes. A match back at home against Udinese before Inter will travel away for the midweek Champions League fixture to Sheriff.
Prediction: Inter 2-1
As always, Forza Inter!
