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You’d be easily forgiven if you didn’t think there was a match on at the San Siro today because quite frankly there wasn’t. What the fans saw today was a dull and lifeless performance that somehow secured us a place back in Europe albeit in the Europa League and not the Champions League as longed for at the start of the season. We can be extremely thankful that Empoli were just as bad if not worse than us.

Plenty chances came our way early on with Empoli showing little to suggest we were going to be in for a hard game but we were wasteful for the first ten minutes. Our goal came after a champagne counter attack, Perisic darted down the wing from the half and squared to Icardi who side footed it into the roof of the net, fears of another Genoa like game happening were over. A second counter soon after didn’t bring the same success however as Perisic stung the hands of Pelagotti instead of squaring into a crowded box.

After Perisic’s chance, we faded into near darkness but continued to dominate in terms of possession, which I guess, can’t really be complained about given we were winning but being Inter, 1 goal is never enough and it would’ve been nicer to keep the tempo on the attacking front up. No longer had I thought this and Maccarone’s effort which was saved by Handanovic was followed up by a Pucciarelli goal. Having taken advantage of lethargic defending by Juan Jesus, an easy finish was on hand and it was a cheap goal to give away without a doubt not long before the half and punishing us for lack of attacking intent.

Having had an astonishing zero shots on target since Icardi’s opener, Perisic broke through and put Inter back ahead within minutes tapping in from a yard or so out after Jovetic forced Pelagotti into hitting it back into play. Once the game resumed another opportunity arose for Icardi as he caught out a sleeping Empoli defence but was uncharacteristically unable to convert in a 1-0n-1 situation. Not the prettiest half of football by any means but a solid start and finish made it bearable.

The second half was very far from a spectacle and made the first half look ten times better than it was. Empoli had the lion share of possession and took hold of a game that was ours in the first. Thankfully, they weren’t much use when attacking. Pucciarelli had the ball in the net late on but was a mile offside in the build up to him smashing home in what proved probably the most exciting action of the second half.

Inter done very little and there will certainly be many fans like myself glad that for another week atleast we don’t need to suffer at the hands of a shocking Inter performance The main thing from today is though, we’ve secured fourth and are back in Europe, until next season San Siro!