After a promising fifth place finish under Walter Mazzarri’s first season in charge as club manager, Inter started 2014-15 season as “year one” of the rebuilding process. Javier Zanetti had transitioned to the role of vice-president and club bid farewell to legends Esteban Cambiasso, Diego Milito, and Walter Samuel. The team had also reinforced the squad with the additions of Gary Medel, Yann M’Vila, Pablo Osvaldo, Nemanja Vidic and renewed Mazzarri’s contract to show confidence in his ability to see the club through this period.
Inter started the season with a 0-0 draw in Turin against Torino. However, with Sassuolo visiting San Siro for the second-round match, Inter were more confident of the two teams. Sassuolo, in their first ever season in Serie A year before, had lost both games to Inter with a combined 8 goal differential, including a 0-7 loss at home as a welcome to big league present. With the additions of Andrea Consigli and Sime Vrsaljko in summer, the Neroverdi were hoping for a different outcome this time around in Milano.
In his first game in Serie A, Vidic received a red card during the game against Torino which suspended him for the match against Sassuolo. Mazzarri replaced him with Marco Andreolli in a 3-man defense along with captain Ranocchia, Juan Jesus. Starting in the midfield were Nagatomo, Hernanes, Medel, Kovacic, and Dodo and with the attacking duo of Icardi and Osvaldo up front.
To counter the Nerazzurri attack, Eusebio Di Francesco had Sassuolo lined up in a 4-3-3 formation with Consigli getting his debut match with Neroverdi and Vrsaljko, Terranova, Ariaudo, and Peluso in defense. Midfield trio of Biondini, Magnanelli, Missiroli and attacking trio of Berardi, Zaza, and Sansone.
Right from kick-off, nerves were showing for the visiting side. Mazzarri’s men were pressing Sassuolo in their own half and Sassuolo were not able to get any momentum going. Nicola Sansone was pressing the Nerazzurri backline, trying to beat the off-side trap, however, his teammates in defense and midfield lacked chemistry and couldn’t string together passes without a turnover.
Di Francesco’s instructions were clear from the start, defend with 10 men in front of goal and Berardi and Sansone hugging the backline to immediately get in behind Inter’s defense to score on the counter-attack. They had also shown intent to double team Kovacic to defuse his playmaking threat, however, this backfired early as Sassuolo’s midfield collapsed around Kovacic as he elegantly dribbled past the trio forcing a center back to step up. This left Icardi wide open who got in behind the defense to score Inter’s first goal of the game.
After conceding the early goal, knowing they were now chasing the equalizer, Sassuolo abandoned their “park the bus” approach and came out of their half with attacking intent. On defense, they also were pressing Inter’s attackers and playmakers aggressively to regain possession. Zaza was the target man and focal point of their attack. He often came back to receive the ball and hold up play to allow Berardi and Sansone to make runs inside the box. The pace on the wings for Sassuolo allowed them to create scoring opportunities however Handanovic and Inter defense were up to the task.
Mazzarri quickly recognized Sassuolo were only pressing as Inter entered Sassuolo’s half, switch tactics to start playing long ball passes towards Icardi and Osvaldo. With two strikers capable of holding up play and Kovacic constantly making darting runs forward from the midfield, this tactical approach paid off instantly as Icardi received a pass from Ranocchia, back-heeled it to Osvaldo who held up the ball, allowing Kovacic to make his run inside the box. With defenders swarming towards Osvaldo, Kovacic had a free run inside the box and comfortably beat onrushing Consigli for his first of the season and Inter’s second goal of the match, 2-0 advantage to Nerazzurri.
Despite conceding two goals, Sassuolo stayed on course. Started committing more men forward in attack, however, they were outnumbered in midfield and struggled to create any significant chances. In defense, the Neroverdi double-teamed Kovacic anytime he attempted to take the ball forward into Sassuolo’s half. Unable to find space to make runs forward, Kovacic orchestrated Inter’s attack by pinpoint passing through the midfield and often finding Hernanes wide open.
The double-team strategy threw off Sassuolo’s defense completely as center-backs had to come forward to cover the onrushing midfielder. With Hernanes presenting a threat to strike from range, Ariaudo and Terranova constantly lost their shape in defense as a result freeing up Icardi and Osvaldo. This led to Icardi’s second goal of the match, as he was left unmarked outside the box and curled a beautiful shot to Consigli’s left, giving Inter a comfortable 3-0 lead with fifteen minutes to go in first half.
For the visitors, the situation went from bad to worse, as starting right-back Vrsaljko was replaced by Marcello Gazzola due to injury. Taking advantage of the new man, Inter went on the offensive and tested him using Dodo’s pace as a left wing-back. Right before half-time, Inter added a fourth goal, resulting from a fantastic run by Dodo into the box, forcing a save from Consigli. Osvaldo was there to score the rebound, giving Inter a comprehensive 4-0 lead going into half-time.
Eusebio Di Francesco, after the 7-0 loss to Inter at home in the previous season, had mentioned that it was a learning experience for the Serie A newbies. Going into half-time down 4-0 at San Siro against same opponents, his side had a lot of lessons to learn and had to adjust quickly to stop the bleeding. Walter Mazzarri, everything had worked out to perfection. Every adjustment made to counter Sassuolo had come off in flying colors. Half-time adjustments for Sassuolo, Di Francesco took off play-maker Missiroli for Inter loanee Saphir Taider, hoping to get better defensive outcome in second-half.
As play resumed, it was more of the same for either side. With momentum completely with the home side, Sassuolo seemed comfortable sitting back defending rest of the way through. With no one pressing him, Gary Medel played a perfectly weighted through ball to Icardi who turned and struck it to Consigli’s right to complete his hattrick. With a 5-0 lead and with visitors visibly giving up the fight, Mazzarri gave Palacio and Guarin game time.
Disappointment and frustration were visible for Sassuolo. Berardi got a straight red card around sixty-minute mark for blatantly elbowing Juan Jesus in the face. As Sassuolo went down to ten men, Inter attack found even more room in attacking third and managed to score two more goals with Osvaldo bagging a brace and Guarin getting an assist and a goal to complete a comprehensive 7-0 thumping of Sassuolo at San Siro.
