Inter have added to their trophy collection through winning the Coppa Italia final 4-2 against Juventus after 120 minutes of football.
An entertaining match which had plenty of action, excitement and most importantly – GOALS! It was end to end football for much of the match where both teams pushed hard to score.
A spectacle to behold with a packed Stadio Olimpico for the final. Interisti at one end of the pitch, and Juventini at the other. The entire crowd chanting and cheering non stop. One to remember!
Let’s look further into the match against Juventus.
Man of the Match!
The man just keeps going from strength to strength in every match that’s played. It’s unfortunate that Ivan’s time may be finished with Inter, but he will leave at the top of his game.
Not only did Ivan score goals against Juventus, he also setup the penalty which Hakan converted to send the match into extra time.
Once the whistle blew for the first period of extra time, it was Perisic’s world and we were all living in it. Although Perisic was superb for the first 90, in extra time he went to another level. A performance skyrocketing from an 8/10 to a 10/10 in the space of 13 minutes.
He stepped up in the 99th minute to put Inter back into the lead after De Vrij was taken down in the box. A spectacular penalty which sent Perin the wrong way while the ball screamed into the top corner.
That wasn’t the end of it, as only 3 minutes later Di Marco squared a ball to Perisic on the edge of the box. A touch with the right foot before smashing it home with his left foot. Another strike which Perin (or any keeper in the world) stood no chance of stopping.
The score 4-2, and Inter firmly in charge through Perisic’s efforts.
It’s worrying that Perisic’s contract is still not sorted, but let’s have faith in Marotta. Ivan is worth every cent he is asking for, as he’s been close to the best left back in the world over the last 6 months.
Special mention –
Credit needs to be given where it’s deserved. Inzaghi for this game and throughout the season has been sensational. After replacing Conte, the hopes were for a top 4 finish. In his first year in charge, Inzaghi has revived Inter and playing some delightful football.
Personally, Inzaghi has been a breath of fresh air and the attacking style of Inter’s play has been scintillating. Plus, he’s beaten Allegri in two finals this season so Juventus will go trophyless for the first season in a decade.
There was a period where Inter could’ve really lost the match after conceding two quick goals. Inzaghi would give his players 10 minutes to cool their heads after the opposing goals before making fantastic substitutions.
The first being Correa for Dzeko which brought some speed and directness into Inter’s play. Ball at the feet of our strikers running at defenders is always worrying for the opposition and that’s what Correa brought onto the pitch.
Secondly, Di Marco for D’Ambrosio provided Inter with another player in attacking raids. This allowed Skriniar and De Vrij to sit back in defence, keep their positional structure and ultimately make us more solid at the back.
Thirdly, the livewire Dumfries being brought on in place of Darmian to set fire to that right hand side. Let’s not forget it was Dumfries cross for Perisic which led to the equalising penalty as Lautaro was brought down.
All very smart substitutions bringing Inter back into the match, and then in a position to go on and win it in extra time.
Let’s celebrate it!
No matter what happens from here, we deserve to celebrate this win over Juventus. This is actually the first season since 08/09 since Inter have not lost in any season match to Juventus.
The record for this season being 3 wins and 1 draw to Inter from the 4 matches (2 matches in Serie A, 1 in Supercoppa and 1 in Coppa Italia) which is an incredible feat.
The reason I say let’s celebrate is because no matter if Milan win their final two games and we miss out on the Scudetto, we must remember this season is a success.
A lot of the magic from last season was lost, but that’s ok. There has been a rebuild during the season without taking too much of a hit so we’ll accept that.
We mentioned earlier that the goal was to place in top 4. Along with that to reach the knockout stages of Champions League and get to the final of the Coppa Italia. We have met every goal and will be fighting for the Scudetto until the end.
If we can finish off this season with two wins, then you never know. We may have another trophy to add to the collection making it a domestic treble.
Where to next?
We head to Cagliari where a fight for the title and a fight to beat relegation will be had. It’s 2nd vs 18th with everything to play for. The previous match, Inter were comfortable winners with a 4-0 scoreline.
We will be hoping for a similar result. Fingers crossed that Atalanta can do us a favour a couple of hours before with a win over Milan. That’ll make things interesting for the last match of the season.
Prediction: Inter 2-1
As always, Forza Inter!
Be sure to check out the homepage of our website for all the latest Inter news here!
Also, make sure you head over to our new YouTube channel for Inter Worldwide here. Please like and subscribe as we continue to build out the community.