Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi is glad to have gotten three points despite a difficult match which saw his team at times labour on a poor San Siro pitch before beating Venezia late on.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match, the coach emphasized the importance of finding a way to win while also speaking about the poor condition of the pitch at the San Siro which has been a factor in recent games for them and AC Milan.
The Nerazzurri controlled most of the possession as expected in this evening’s match, but they went behind after getting caught cold by an excellent delivery by Ethan Ampadu and a Thomas Henry header which beat the usually reliable Milan Skriniar.
Inter responded with a first-half equalizer from Nicolo Barella but as a sluggish second half wore on they looked increasingly likely to have to settle for a point.
However, the team once again showed their determination to snatch victory with a well-taken late header by Edin Dzeko to go five points clear of AC Milan at the top of the table.
“The team believed in it until the end,” Inzaghi said, “the boys did well considering this difficult period and two matches going to extra time, plus our efforts in Bergamo and going behind early which could have caused problems.”
“The San Siro pitch is becoming a problem,” he went on, “it looks unplayable. Now with the break, the clubs will work to find a solution.”
“This is not an excuse,” he added, “because we can always do better even on a pitch like this.”
“But for twenty days this has not been a pitch that can be played on,” the coach went on, “It forces both us and Milan to play differently, we try to play good football. This is not normal, and I think the clubs will improve it.”
On the withdrawal of Lautaro Martinez during the second half as his team looked for a goal, Inzaghi said that “We have Sanchez, Correa, and Dzeko, who all have different characteristics and all want to play.”
“Lautaro did well for seventy minutes, but then the changes were decisive,” he went on. “Vecino, Dimarco, Sanchez, Vidal and Dumfries were instrumental because we needed some thrust when they came on and they were great.”
Inzaghi emphasized that “We’ve won nine games out of our last ten, won the Supercoppa, and made it to the Champions League round of sixteen.”
“We want to go as far as possible in all competitions,” he went on, “we know itwill be tough but we want to do it.”
“Now we enjoy this win and rest up over the next three or four days,” he added, “and then we’ll keep going with confidence as we’ve been doing ever since we started in July.”
On the defensive wobbles in the last couple matches, Inzaghi stated that “Objectively, there’s no doubt that we should have done better on the goals we conceded on Wednesday and then this evening.”
“On the first goal we were isolated at the back because of our pressure and then Henry made a good move,” he said, “we had to be more careful.”
“We have to make sure we keep being ferocious,” the coach said of the pressing approach, “we were controlling the game and I felt calm, but then conceding a goal like that can cause you to lose your composure and organization.”
“Despite this we kept in it,” he added, “we equalized through Barella and then Dzeko scored to give us three vital points.”
“We’re fortunate that the players are staying here with us, apart from the Italian internationals and the South Americans apart from Vidal,” he said.
“Now we work hard, we have a massive run of games and we’ve just played two and a half days after 120 minutes against Empoli so we’re tired,” Inzaghi emphasized.
He stated that “We have to congratulate Venezia, they played with courage and gave us to think about by going ahead, and their forwards caused us a lot of trouble.”
