Inter defeated Verona 1-0 at home, while the referee made four horrible decisions all against Inter to keep the contest close.
It’s not very often I’ll write about referees as teams have chances throughout a match to take their chances. However, I can’t turn a blind eye to this one. One of the main reasons the score was so close was because of some absolute howlers.
Verona struggled to test Onana as Inter’s defence held strong for 90 minutes. At the other end of the pitch, there should’ve been more goals in Inter’s favour.
Let’s look further into some key points of the match.
Standard of referees needs to improve!
The first decision came in the first half as a perfect shot from Mkhitaryan looked to be heading into the bottom corner. An arm got in the way and the ball struck what looked to have been the elbow of Hien.
VAR looked at the replay over and over again, however did not ask the referee to go look at the screen. A clear penalty for me and this could’ve taken the score to 2-0 before half time. Very inconsistent which is so frustrating.
In the second half we saw so many obvious errors from the referee. Almost too obvious!
A rash challenge from Dawidowicz on Dimarco shouldn’t had him on his way. Already on a yellow, we saw Dawidowicz raise a lazy foot and catch Dimarco well after the ball had been played. The referee stopped play, awarded the foul then seemed to forget about showing a card.
A few minutes later, Lautaro would be challenging a perfect long ball played from Acerbi. Lautaro would tussle with Dawidowicz who would fall over, while Lautaro would continue then sublimely chip the ball over Montipo and begin to celebrate.
Play would get called back for a foul from Lautaro and not a second look from VAR. Another wrong call with even the commentators agreeing the referee got that wrong after studying the replay.
Finally, the most laughable decision of all. Inter had a chance to break through the middle of the park through Dzeko but a jersey pull Hien would stop play. Hien, already on a yellow should’ve also been shown a second yellow but again the referee held back the card.
I really hope Inter officials will lodge a complaint as these decisions above completely changed the match. Luckily Verona did not score, otherwise there would’ve been an uproar. It was complete incompetency from the referee, and it’s not the first time after the terrible call against Monza last week.
Special mention –
There was a fantastic performance which needs to be mentioned. Our striker, Lautaro is back in stunning form and today he took his chance perfectly. It was less than 3 minutes on the clock, and Lautaro already had his goal.
For the remainder of the match, Lautaro was the best on field. It was great to see the efforts he made in defence and some of the decisions he made in attack. There were some lovely balls being distributed which really setup Inter well on the counter.
As mentioned earlier, Lautaro should’ve had a second. If that goal had stood, Lautaro would be number 10 in Inter’s all time scoring list. A fantastic achievement for someone so young and with a full career ahead. He may have a chance to crack the top 5 if he remains an Inter player for his career.
After an average World Cup showing, Lautaro has come back in red hot form. Scoring goals against Monza, Parma and now Verona. Hopefully we will see the same form continue into the Supercoppa against Milan.
Where to next?
Inter will travel to Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa Italiana against Milan. Considering the current schedule, flying over 4 hours to Saudi Arabia mid week is not ideal. Even if it is for a trophy, backing up less than a week later will be difficult.
Hopefully we can get our first trophy of the year though!
Prediction: Final score 1-1 with Inter winning on penalties.
As always, Forza Inter!
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