Inter secured their place at the top of Serie A with a 2-1 win over Spezia at the Stadio Alberto Picci Nerazzurri put in a pretty good performance and opened the scoring through Marcelo Brozovic. The second half was much more entertaining as both teams played their part. Lautaro Martinez scored Inter’s second goal before Giulio Maggiore recovered one for Spezia.
However, it was only a consolation when Alexis Sanchez scored the goal Nerazzurris third goal to end the game.
Inter made some changes after defeating Verona, with Danilo D’Ambrosio replacing Stefan de Vrij while Alessandro Bastoni was back in the line-up at the expense of Federico Dimarco.
Spezia made only one change from the draw at Empoli: Viktor Kovalenko replaced Kevin Agudelo.
Inter dominated possession and wanted to attack, but Spezia’s defense was well organised. Hakan Calhanoglu tried several times to shoot from a distance but couldn’t find the net. That Nerazzurri Thanks to Brozovic’s powerful left-footed shot, he opened the first goal just after the half-hour. The Croatian played a nice ball towards D’Ambrosio. It was the Croatian’s second goal of the season and his first in Serie A since May 2021 when he scored against Roma.
Spezia had to make a substitution in the 37th minute when Salvador Ferrer replaced the injured Arkadiusz Reca.
Spezia made a substitution at the break when they brought on Agudelo for Kovalenko. Inter were keen to double their lead and had a huge chance early in the second half. Jakub Kiwior’s flick went towards Ivan Perisic, who tried to shoot but his shot went wide of the target. Edin Dzeko was close by and might have found the net if the Croatian hadn’t intervened.
Inzaghi made a number of changes throughout the second half with the arrival of Sanchez and Martinez. The latter created a number of chances before hitting the net in the 73rd minute. Perisic attempted a cross from the left and the Argentine managed to touch it to send it into the back of the net. That Nerazzurri continued to put pressure on the Spezia defense but failed to score a third goal.
Spezia also played a role in the second half as skipper Giulio Maggiore pulled one back with an excellent right foot shot. This was his first goal of the season.
Inter found their third place in the game in the final minutes thanks to Alexis Sanchez, who scored from a Martinez pass.
That Nerazzurri Won 3-1 but the game was an entertaining fight especially in the second half. Simone Inzaghi’s side have shown their class at a crucial stage of the season and will be highly motivated with victory ahead of the Milan derby at the Coppa Italiia.
Spezia was resilient at times, but the champions were just too good for her. That Aquilotti have to be more disciplined in the five very difficult games if they want to avoid staying up.
Inter are at the top of Serie A and have played one more game than rivals Milan. Spezia remains 15th overall, ten points clear of the relegation zone.
Next up for Inter are the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals against Milan, with the first leg ending goalless. That Nerazzurri have yet to beat their city rivals this season and Tuesday’s game would be a good opportunity to triumph over them. Spezia travel to Torino for their game against Torino, who have won just one of their five home games in 2022 so far.
GAME scorecard
April 15, 2022 – Serie A 2021-2022 Matchday 33
NAPLES – INTER 1-1
Goalscorers: 31′ Brozovic (I)73′ Martinez (I), 88′ Maggiore (S), 90+3′ Sanchez (I)
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SPEZIA (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou, Reca (37′ Ferrer); Kiwior, Maggiore; Gyasi, Kovalenko (46′ Agudelo), Bastoni (60′ Verde); Manaj (60′ Nzola [70′ Antiste]) (Zoet, Sala, Hristov, Nguiamba, Zovko, Bertola) Coaches: Thiago Motta |
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INTER (3-5-2): Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, Skriniar, Bastoni (82′ De Vrij); Dumfries (75′ Darmian), Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu (75′ Vidal), Persian; Dzeko (60′ Martinez), Correa (60′ Sanchez) (Cordaz, Radu, Gagliardini, Kolarow, Ranocchia, Darmian, Carboni, Caicedo) Coaches: S.Inzaghi |
REFEREE: Mr. Mareska REMARKS: Yellow cards: S. Bastoni (S), Nikolaou (S) ; Overtime: 1st half 2′, 2nd half 4′
