Inter captain Samir Handanovic put in an overall solid performance in yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal first leg against Juventus, but threw it all away with his actions late in the match.
This is the verdict of today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that the 38-year-old “lost his head” by getting himself sent off for a physical altercation with Juventus wingback Juan Cuadrado.
Handanovic has found playing time hard to come by since Andre Onana’s emergence as Inter’s first-choice goalkeeper, but was given an opportunity to show that he can still have his say in yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia match against Juventus.
In the first half, the Slovenian showed his experience to make some good saves that ensured that the Nerazzurri did not concede early on, whilst he also showed that he can be astute at knowing when to come off his line and knows how to organize his defense.
Moreover, from the Corriere’s perspective, the Inter captain was blameless for the second half Juventus goal, as there was little that he could have done to get to Cuadrado’s shot which came about following a defensive breakdown by the team.
In this sense, much of Handanovic’s performance was a solid one, and he proved his coach right in the decision to start him in such an important knockout match.
However, the Corriere criticizes the 38-year-old for getting himself late on in the match.
Both sets of players were involved in a major brawl as the entire match descended into chaos following the controversial second yellow card received by Nerazzurri striker Romelu Lukaku.
However, it was Handanovic and Cuadrado who were deemed to have crossed the line with their part in the fracas.
The pair got into a physical altercation which saw referee Davide Massa issue straight red cards to both players, and from the perspective of the Corriere this was completely needless from Handanovic and not befitting his status as Inter captain.
