Inter (2): 64′ Brozovic 90+1′ Perisic
Parma (2): 46′ 62′ Gervinho
Inter had to come from behind for yet another time this season, but this time from 2-0 down only to get a point against Parma. Inter now dropped points in the third game out of six played this season. The team has left it late again at the San Siro against Parma, when Ivan Perisic scored the equalizer in the 91st minute. The comeback started with Brozovic scoring in the 64th minute, just 2 minutes after Parma scored their second goal. Inter now has 11 points from the 18 which were available.
It was another day, but the same wasteful Inter. Players were competing to miss chances, one after the other. It started in the first minute when Ivan Perisic missed a very easy chance from inside the 18-yard box. And, it ended with Vidal missing a header from inside the six-yard box -that could have won Inter the game- in the last minute of the stoppage time.
Inter was absolutely dominant the first half. The team controlled possession, while creating enough chances to be up at least by one goal during that half. They found themselves one goal down in the first minute of the second half. Gervinho was unmarked behind the defense when he received the pass from Hernani, just to volley the ball to the back of the net. Gervinho also scored the second goal in the 62nd minute after he received a through pass from Inglese in the box behind de Vrij. He then had an easy finish to make it 2-0.
Lukaku was absent from this game after being diagnosed with a thigh injury after the UCL game midweek. This injury might prevent him from playing for a couple of weeks at least. However, this game should have been easy enough for the remaining squad which has lots of quality players to handle it without their star striker.
Key Stats
Shots/on Target: Inter 25/9 (Parma 5/3)
Possession: Inter 69% (Parma 31%)
Total Passes/Success: Inter 594/88% (Parma 278/68%)
Crosses: Inter 46 (Parma 6)
Corners: Inter 15 (Parma 2)
Starting Lineup and Formation
Inter started the game 3421 formation. Conte rested D’Ambrosio and Bastoni in preparation for the UCL game against Real Madrid on Tuesday. Andrea Ranocchia started in between de Vrij and Kolarov as the three center-backs. Hakimi started as the right side wing-back. While it was the first time this season in which Darmian started as the left side one.
Gagliardini came back to the starting lineup for the first time since the Lazio game before the last international break. He was absent due to a positive covid-19 test that kept him away for almost a month now. Alongside him in the in the midfield, Eriksen and Nicolo Barella were called for the starting lineup.
With the absence of Lukaku, Ivan Perisic started as the second Striker next to Lautaro Martinez. On paper, Eriksen was supposed to be operating as the playmaker behind the two forwards. However, sometimes during the game Eriksen appeared to be operating from the right side, as Perisic was leaning towards playing from the left because of his natural abilities as a left winger.
Inter made the first substitution 13 minutes after conceding the first goal. In the 59th minute, Arturo Vidal and Marcelo Brozovic replaced Eriksen and Gagliardini in a like-for-like substitutions.
The third substitution took place in the 68th minute when Pinamonti replaced Darmian to play as a forward, while sending Perisic back to his natural position at Inter as a left wing-back.
Ashley Young and Radja Nainggolan replaced Barella and Hakimi in the 78th Minute as the last throw of the dice from Antonio Conte .
Style of Play
Defensive strategy
Inter did not have to do a lot of defensive work in the first half. Parma registered one shot which was off-target in the first 45 minutes. Even though the team was behind by two goals in the second half. Inters’ opposition had only 3 shots on target and the goals came from two individual mistakes.
Inter pressed Parma high up on the field from the first minute. They didn’t allow the opposition players to have any passing flows. The team forced their opponent to play long hopeless balls. Parma had only 188 successful passes during the 90 minutes. They had only 4 touches in Inte’r’ 18-yard box. Unfortunately, two of them produced goals.
Offensive Strategy
Inter started the game building from the back while trying to get the outside flanks chances to be high on the field. The players were not playing any risky passes until they get to the final third, where they had to cross or play a through pass. Long balls were not served in this game as they were less than 10% of all the passes, while ball possession stat showed 69% in favor of Inter.
With Parma playing a very compact 5 in the back. Crossing the ball was one of the main solutions for Inter during the game. Players were given instruction to cross the ball whenever they have the chance. It didn’t matter if it was an early cross or from the byline. The team had 46 crosses during this game.
The second option for Inter was shooting from outside the box. The players had 25 total shots, with 13 of them from outside the area. The first goal for Inter came from one of these by Brozovic.
Conceding Mistakes
Inter defense conceded again after the first real opportunity for their opponent. They conceded through the first shot on target in the game. In addition, the team conceded the second from the only big chance that came after.
In the first goal, the whole defensive line lost their concentration after Lautaro was dispossessed by Parma players. When Hernani picked the ball in the midfield, the 3 Center backs were not marking any opposing player. de Vrij lost the sight of Gervinho, who was free between the Dutch international and Achraf Hakimi on the right side of the defense. By the time de Vrij realized that the ball was going to be played behind him, Gervinho was already inside the 18 yard box by himself ready to volley the ball into the back of the net.
In the second goal, de Vrij was at fault again. Inters’ best defender last season lost the sight of the Ivorian for the second time. He allowed the forward to run easily behind him inside the box to receive the through pass in a simple, avoidable mistake by being more aware of the surroundings.
Conclusion
Inter must be psychologically stronger. The defense cannot lose focus because the team has possession of the ball most of the time. This lack of concentration cost the team many goals this season. Leadership is needed as it is key during times like these.
Conte has to find more solutions to score goals during the time when Lukaku is out injured.
The coaching staff and the management have to be aware of the critical situation that the club is in these weeks as they had just 1 win in the last 6 games.
If Inter doesn’t learn from these mistakes soon enough, they might find themselves away from the top of the league with no way to recover, and out of the UEFA Champions League.
Pazza Inter never left!
