You have to admit when Samir sliced through the heart of the Inter defence with the skill of a cardiothoracic surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic, and sent an inch-perfect pass to Jakub Jankto for the opening goal of the game you couldn’t help but feel a sense of impending doom.
Just when you thought Inter had turned the corner and were ready to put their troubles in the rearview mirror, they were going to fall on their face. It’s happened too many times to count over the years, much like the whispers of a Dark Tower movie, which inevitably fail to come to fruition. You get your hopes up despite the empirical evidence and then you end up feeling foolish. It’s a vicious cycle. The Nerazzurri had tricked you again. Only they hadn’t.
Instead of wilting, Inter showed some steely resolve by shocking the home crowd at the Dacia Arena into silence when Ivan Perisic squeezed in a shot at the near post for the equalizer on the cusp of halftime. It was wholly undeserved but the Nerazzurri didn’t care, as they were level at the break with everything to play for in the second half.
Ever Banega and Duvan Zapata missed excellent opportunities to break the deadlock in the first 10 minutes of the second session before the next 20 went by devoid of any real scoring chances.
Inter should have taken the lead in the 83rd minute when second-half substitute Joao Mario beat Orestis Karnezis only to see his shot expertly cleared off the line by Silvan Widmer, but the Nerazzurri wouldn’t be denied as Perisic rose the highest to emphatically head the ball past the Udinese keeper in the 87th minute to steal three precious points.
Inter extended their Serie A winning streak to four games and secured their first victory on the road since Sept. 21, 2016. It seems like the Nerazzurri have turned the corner but we’ve been down this road many times before. But something feels different this time around, right?
Here’s what we learned from Inter’s comeback win against Udinese:
Pioli’s picks prove decisive
Joao Mario came on for the disappointing Banega in the 55th minute and gave Inter a much-needed shot in the arm. The Portuguese international probably should have claimed the winner but saw his fierce shot cleared off the line by Widmer.
Eder, who entered the fray in the 84th minute, has a useful penchant for winning free kicks and took a tumble outside of the box to set up Joao Mario’s perfectly placed set piece deliver, which Perisic met at the back post.
Stefano Pioli has made all the right moves in the second half of recent games – a positive trend that hopefully continues – and has everyone in the squad working towards the same objective, which is a minor miracle considering where things stood a few months ago.
Perisic is Icardi’s right-hand man
The Croatian international seemed tired in December but looked refreshed against Udinese as he was Inter’s main danger man in the first half. In a sneak peak of what was to come, Perisic won three corners and had a goal ruled out when he was flagged offside before sneaking a shot past Karnezis on the last kick of the half to give Inter a much-needed boost.
Perisic curled a free kick just wide of the mark in the second half before heading home the all-important winner to complete a man-of-the-match performance.
Perisic has scored six goals in 18 appearances this season and it’s refreshing to see someone other than Mauro Icardi shoulder the scoring load. The only downside is the 27-year-old’s play has reportedly ignited the interest of some Premier League clubs, including Manchester United.
Nerazzurri rowing in right direction
Things looked bleak at the start of the campaign to put it mildly but fast forward to the new year and Inter are firing on all cylinders. The Nerazzurri have put their disappointing Europa League exit behind them, which was probably for the best so they can concentrate solely on domestic matters, and are just five points off the pace for the last Champions League spot – the real prize.
Pioli deserves all the credit in the world for turning the squad’s fortunes around and with winnable games against Chievo, Palermo and Pescara coming up, you can’t help but get excited at what the future holds.
The arrival of talented youngster Roberto Gagliardini is another massive step in the right direction as is the departures of Felipe Melo and Stevan Jovetic. With the winter mercato looking more and more like a success and Sunning poised to splash the cash in the summer, all is suddenly well at Appiano Gentile… until the next crisis.
