Inzaghi goes astray and Inter clamorously loses at the peak, putting the Champions League at serious risk. Spezia returns to win at home after 6 months, driven by an extraordinary Nzola.
– Six, very long, months. Spezia’s last home victory dates back to 17 September, in the Ligurian derby against Sampdoria won 2-1 thanks to Murillo’s own goal and, look at it, Nzola’s goal. Then, many empty exits and some great satisfaction like away victories in Verona and Turin. The Peak, however, was no longer the fort of last year and many certainties were slowly fading away. The draw obtained in extremis by Atalanta had perhaps thrown the players of Spezia definitively into despair, practically become incapable of being incisive in front of their audience. Until tonight, this daring win the old-fashioned way, with two goals from two shots on goal, where Nikolaou, Gyasi and Nzola have returned to being the ancient bulwarks of a team that wants to continue believing in the Serie A dream;
– 24 away goals, 30 in total, 8 defeats in 26 games are not great team numbers, this seems to us quite objective. Inter, very serious candidates for the 2022/2023 Scudetto according to various authoritative opinions, after having witnessed Spalletti’s glorious blue ride together with the other contenders, have never been able to have a sufficiently decisive step not even for reaching second place, “minimum” objective after the penalty imposed on Juventus. As the weeks go by, plus, it seems like is melting like snow in the sun, seriously jeopardizing qualification for the next Champions League. A goal, for many, practically mortgaged after the home win against Udinese, which had brought the gap to the fifth place to 5 points. Then the defeat in Bologna, to reopen old wounds and the draw in Genoa, with the home victory against Lecce to give the air of being the classic dust hidden under the carpet. More is needed and needed quickly;
– Inzaghi is showing all his limits at the helm of Inter. The soft and not very incisive attitude is transmitted by osmosis to his players, today authors of 26 shots on goal and unable to win a game that, numbers in hand, could only be won. Barella’s gaze at tonight’s substitution is the perfect slide of the team’s attitude towards its coach. The players seem to have lost faith in Inzaghi, whose work, at this point, should be seriously judged by society. The gratitude for what has been done in the last two years will remain but to get back to winning Inter would probably need more;
– Simple back to simple things. In fact, the Florentine coach, after having timidly tried to change formation in the matches against Udinese, Juventus and Verona, returned to his origins, deploying a 3-man defense and a midfield with two blocked wingers such as Amian and Gyasi. Up front, next to Nzola, Shomurodov was seen again, preferred to a bruised Green. Obviously, the expressed game cannot be the most sparkling, the opponent cannot agree with it, but Spezia does what it has to do, closing in and restarting on the counterattack, taking advantage of the qualities of an elusive Nzola today for Inter defenders. The dear, old, 3-5-2 of the ex Luca Gotti can still be the lifeline for the Spezia championship;
– The difference compared to the period under Gotti’s leadership is precisely the attitude. Just over a month ago the eagles, with a man’s lead, saw themselves recovering two goals from a far from irresistible Empoli team. Yet another comeback suffered by what appeared to be a team suffering from results. The legs, in the decisive moments, trembled. Today, after conceding Lukaku’s penalty in the 84th minute, who equalized Maldini’s goal, Simple’s men poured forward, incredibly managing to find the key episode of the match with Dumfries’ foul on Kovalenko in the middle of the penalty area. After months, Spezia returned to winning at home in one of the objectively most difficult matches on the calendar. Courage and desire to take salvation with your teethwithout even worrying too much about the results of the chaser.
The article Scattered considerations after Spezia-Inter (2-1) comes from Sportellate.it.