Inter have secured a 3-1 victory over Hellas Verona, after a phenomenal debut from their newest signing Correa who bagged two goals.
Not the prettiest of performances from Inzaghi’s men, but the 3 points taken all the same. We’ve been treated with some champagne style football under Inzaghi so far, but today Inter was far too wasteful with the ball.
Let’s dive into the match and look at some key points.
What a debut!
After only completing his transfer from Lazio on Thursday night, we would’ve understood if it took a little while for Correa to adjust to his new surroundings. However, this was not the case as Correa looked at home on the pitch as an Inter player.
As mentioned earlier, Correa had a dream start to his Inter career.
Being subbed on for Lautaro in the 74th minute was a bit odd for me, as I thought Lautaro and Correa would’ve played together. I should’ve trusted Inzaghi more, as it was the perfect move as Dzeko and Correa seem like a great pairing up front.
Straight away Correa was in the action as he supplied a delightful ball for Barella into the box. Unfortunately Barella would lose his footing as nothing would eventuate from that move.
A few minutes later, Correa’s finishing ability would be on show. The first goal being a sublime header near the edge of the box which gave Montipo no chance to save. The second goal a powerful left footed shot into the bottom right corner.
I don’t know why, but I’m getting Julio Cruz type of vibes from Correa which is the highest of compliments. It may be because both players are tall, Argentinian, technically gifted with both feet and great finishers. I look forward to seeing this guy in games to come. Very, very exciting!
No stubbornness here –
I applaud Inzaghi in this match for his tactical awareness when things weren’t working. It was a very scrappy Inter performance, and these matches are going to come from time to time. Ensuring we get the win is the important thing which Inzaghi has done here.
As a coach, he took it upon himself to make some changes to get the result. He didn’t sit back and wait for something to happen, Inzaghi got on the front foot and made it happen.
The substitutions of Vidal, Dimarco and Correa completely influenced the game for the better. As Inter started to get some free space all around the pitch which was positive to see.
With Dimarco holding up the left, it allowed Darmian to start creating runs on the right. Vidal spotted an incredible run from Darmian, which then allowed Darmian to cross into Correa for Inter’s second goal of the day.
Previous coaches of Inter would’ve waited either until we conceded a goal, or made a sub when it was far too late. I like the mentality from Inzaghi and I hope he has the confidence to coach like this for the rest of the season.
Nearly cost us… again –
Same story, different season. Handanovic makes a mistake and costs Inter a goal. A poor pass from Handanovic leading to Verona’s first goal.
The ball was played into “no man’s land” as Ilic intercepted and dinked the ball delightfully over Handanovic. Brozovic surely wondering who Handanovic was playing that ball to, as it was really poor distribution from our keeper.
Last season we saw pure goalkeeping errors from Handanovic cost Inter points, and it’s hard to say if that part of his game has improved. As we saw today and in the first match, there hasn’t been many chances on goal for opposition sides so Handanovic isn’t being tested.
I thought this transfer we would’ve bought a replacement keeper to transition to over the course of the season, but it looks like we’ll be waiting another season for this to be true. Handanovic is still in the top 3 keepers in Serie A even with his mistakes, so hopefully we don’t see too many more from him.
Where to next?
There will be an international break for the next couple of weeks so unfortunately no Serie A matches. Inter’s next match will be on September 11th against Sampdoria with no time decided just yet.
It’s difficult to get a reading on Sampdoria at the moment, as they lost their first match to Milan. To be fair, it was a quite even match so they would’ve been disappointed not to get a draw from that fixture.
Of the past 10 meetings with Sampdoria, Inter have won 8 and lost 2. Hopefully we see another win from Inter as we look to keep the winning streak going!
Prediction: Inter 2-1
As always, Forza Inter!
