On the last matchday before the international break and with the looming anticipation of the Derby d’Italia set for when league play resumes in two weeks, it is not uncommon for a club like Inter to fall into the trap against a newly promoted side like Frosinone and drop points to them. But with some individual moments of brilliance and the usual defensive discipline and fortitude, the Nerazzurri proved victorious and maintained a slim two-point lead over Juventus on the league table.
Club manager Simone Inzaghi credited the win to the focus and chemistry of his squad in his post-match press conference. “It’s a beautiful group that accepts my choices and those of the staff with serenity,” he said. “They are good together, they must continue as they have done in these last six games. We have seen other teams lose points before the break, today we found a Frosinone who created difficulties for us.”
The attack of Il Biscione immediately pressed the Frosinone defense minutes into the match. They were almost rewarded with an early goal from a minute 10 corner as Marcus Thuram had just missed a tap in front of the far post. In the 19th minute, a counterattack ended with Nicolo Barella feeding Lautaro Martinez as he forced Frosinone goalkeeper Stefano Turati into a diving save high near the crossbar. Yet the more Inter pressed, the more The Canaries dug into their defensive positioning closing down passing lanes for the Nerazzurri attack in the final third.
The turning point arrived near the end of the first half. In the 43rd minute, Federico Dimarco took a pass from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and noticed Turati had wondered a little too far off his line. Now just past midfield on the Frosinone side from his left wing position, Dimarco lofted a soaring shot into goal as Turati desperately tried to recover, but to no avail. Dimarco later said his goal was something he had been working on his entire football-playing life.
“This shot starts from Porta Romana, passes through Interello, Ascoli, Empoli, Sion, Parma, Verona and arrives in the stadium of my dreams,” he said.
Right after halftime, Inter were right back in business as Alessandro Bastoni sent a long pass from near his own penalty box to Thuram who then dribbled the ball into the front of Frosinone goal past several defenders until he was tripped up by center back Ilario Monterisi. The foul was called and the penalty was awarded. Once again, Hakan Çalhanoğlu stepped up to convert this opportunity, which he did with relative ease as he sent Turati to dive left while the reliable regista sent his shot to the right. With the second goal, Çalhanoğlu broke the Serie A record for goals scored by a Turkish player as this was his 37th of his seven year career in the league.
Although Inter defended well throughout the match, The Canaries were able to create some scoring opportunities of their own, none of which got past Yann Sommer who had three saves on the day. The closest scoring chance occurred at the 57th minute as right winger Matías Soulé took a turnover and passed to forward Walid Cheddira who was just substituted into the game. Unfortunately for Frosinone, Cheddira’s grounding shot bounced off of the far post.
With a final score of 2-0, Sommer completed his eighth clean sheet for the season while setting up a massive and momentous Derby d’Ialia scheduled for November 26th in Turin that will surely build with increasing anticipation all throughout the international break.
Inzaghi made sure to say this would not be a title-clinching match. “No, it’s only the thirteenth match, a third of the championship,” he said. “It will be an important match because it represents a lot for the environment.”
While the last two matchdays for the UEFA EURO qualifiers over this international break will bring plenty of excitement to fans, the impending derby at Allianz Stadium will be capturing everyone’s imagination until then.
