Inter overcame a lacklustre AC Milan side at the San Siro thanks to second half goals from Marcolo Brozovic and Romelu Lukaku to make it four wins from four in Serie A and leave them top of the table.
Taking the lead after 49 minutes, a tactical masterclass from Antonio Conte helped Inter comfortably see out the second half, with Lukaku adding the second 12 minutes from time.
Line Ups:
Milan made two changes from a scrappy 1-0 win over Hellas Verona, with the suspended Calabria being replaced at full back by Conti. Rafael Leao was also handed his first start since his summer move from Lille, replacing Lucas Paqueta, as impressed up front for AC Milan.
Inter made three changes from their draw with Prague, with Candreva judged not fully git to start. Barella earnt himself a place following his equaliser on Tuesday, whilst Godin returned to the back three.
First Half:
In a cagey opening half, Brozovic impressed once again in midfield for Inter, retaining the ball and linking defence to midfield well. Completing 36 passes, he also contributed defensively, covering the space in front of the back three. As shown below, Brozovic played a lot of forward and sideways passes, which was fundamental to finding space on Milan’s flanks, who had set up very narrow defensively in their 4-3-2-1 formation.
This subsequently allowed Sensi the freedom to push on and have an influence further forward, allowing him to top the chances created in the first half for Inter with two, whilst he also led the press high up when they lost the ball, recovering the ball three times in the opposition half.
Sensi’s influence in the attacking third in the first half was also highlighted by him completing the most passes in the final third of any player on the pitch, as Conte looks to utilise his attacking talent high up the pitch.
D’Ambrosio was the key outlet throughout the first half for Inter out wide, whereas in previous games attacks had been focussed down Asamoah on the left. This was due to the positioning of Milan’s attackers, and as demonstrated by the influence maps below, Rodriguez was left isolated by the positioning of Rafael Leao up the pitch.
As a result, Godin pressed higher on the ball, whilst Barella drifted further over, creating overloads and allowing D’Ambrosio to influence the game in attack.
D’Ambrosio’s missed chance in the first half highlighted the overloads Inter were able to create due to the positioning of Rafael Leao, and why they looked to target this area. Although the attack was created down the left, with Inter creating an effective 3v2, Leao’s positioning high up the pitch (circled below) had left Milan 3 v 3 in the box, including wing back D’Ambrosio, shown furthest right in the picture.
D’Ambrosio peeled off to the back post, not picked up by Rodriguez, who also had to contend with the positioning of the man on the edge of the box. Sensi kept his calm well, beating his man with ease before setting up Martinez, who missed a good chance.
The rebound fell kindly for D’Ambrosio, who could only fire against the post. Although a big chance, it identified where Inter were having their best luck in the first half, and why they targeted the flanks in Milan’s narrow formation.
However, there were still defensive worries for Inter in the first half, and this was nearly all in part down to the impressive attacking performance of Rafael Laeo. As alluded to, he was left high up the pitch, with very minimal tracking back to help his defenders. Although this created problems defensively, his positioning up top created problems for Inter’s defence, especially Godin in the first half.
Due to D’Ambrosio’s high positioning, it left them isolated 1 v 1, an area which Laeo was able to target. Creating two chances and completing 2/4 take-ons in the first half, he provided an outlet for Milan, and was fundamental to any attacks in the first half when they looked to break.
Indicative of Milan’s tactics, they were happy for Inter to have the ball for large periods of the first half and look to break when defenders had pushed on, shown by the first half possession stats of 57% to 43%.
Second Half:
The second half got off to a dream start for Conte’s men, as Brozovic fired Inter into the lead three minutes after the break. Although the free kick was well worked, it was aided by the poor defending of Milan, who set up very deep allowing Brozovic plenty of time and space on the edge of the box, as seen below.
Although an element of luck with the deflection, Milan didn’t help themselves by packing the box so tightly defensively and not closing the Croatian midfielder down, increasing the chances of a deflection.
Inter reacted very well to the early goal, as they continued to press Milan high up the pitch and subsequently retained possession very well high up the pitch, not allowing Milan to build any attacks or get out their own half for the next fifteen minutes.
Barella, Brozovic and Sensi pressed well, shown by their high positioning below, whilst the back three employed a very high line looking to condense the play, and as a result Milan didn’t manage a shot in the first twenty minutes of the second half, whereas Inter created six.
Barella’s ball retention in this period was impressive, completing 15 of 16 passes in this period, feeding the ball to Brozovic well, who could subsequently switch the play to the left side. These switches of play were fundamental to Inter’s dominance in this period, as Suso didn’t track back on the right of Milan’s midfield, leaving Conti isolated as Milan tried to chase the game.
Asamoah as a result was impressive in this period given the space he had been afforded, creating two chances and completing the most attacking passes in the final third of anyone on the pitch.
On 71 minutes, Conte made his first change, bringing on Vecino for Sensi before bringing on Politano for Martinez on 76 minutes. These two changes were perfectly timed by Conte and as Inter began to sit deeper and defend, it added much need energy to the midfield and extra defensive solidity.
Politano also added the ability to take players on at pace and stretch the game, offering an outlet to stretch the game. Although only completing one take-on in the time he was on, it was indicative of his willingness to run at defenders, and his ability to stretch Milan’s tiring midfield and defence.
The second Inter goal came as a result of an attack down the left once again, as Milan had pushed on and left Conti isolated at the back. Conte has also switched to a 5-4-1, with Barella moving out to the wide left position, and this was key to the second goal. As shown below, Inter created a 2v1 with Asamoah getting beyond Barella, allowing him space to cross
Lukaku isolated his man 1v1 in the middle extremely well once again, and headed home from six yards out.
After the second goal, Inter subsequently sat in and defended comfortably, as they continued to look to break when they could. Candreva, a substitute for D’Ambrosio after 82 minutes, had another chance to make it three on 90 minutes. Shown where he received the ball, it once again highlighted the space afforded down Milan’s right, as Conti continued his struggles.
Romelu Lukaku’s performance, particularly in the second half, was a vast improvement on Tuesday, as he battled well and fulfilled the target man role well. Linking with Martinez, he is able to occupy the two centre halves with his physical presence, allowing extra space for the Argentine to exploit.
His improved aerial performance was shown, as he won 6/8 of his attacking aerial duals, as Romagnoli and Musacchio struggled with his physicality. Topping off his performance with a deserved goal, he now has three in four Serie A games.
Summary:
Inter now sit top with a 100% record after their comfortable victory, bouncing back extremely well from their draw against Slavia Prague in the Champions League. An all round strong display, the underlying statistics going forward also pointed to a deserved victory, with an xG of 1.69 to Milan’s 0.81, highlighting another strong defensive display from Inter’s impressive backline.
Next up for Inter is a home game against Lazio on Wednesday before a trip to Sampdoria on Saturday, as they look to keep up the 100% start to the Serie A season.
