Inter Milan Midfielder Criticized For “Anonymous” Display In 3-0 Serie A Win Vs Empoli

Inter midfielder Roberto Gagliardini is on the end of some criticism for putting in an “anonymous” display in the Nerazzurri’s 3-0 win over Empoli in Serie A yesterday afternoon.

The 29-year-old received a score of just 5.5/10 in the player ratings for the match published in today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that whilst there was nothing particularly wrong with his display, he offered very little.

Gagliardini was given a relatively rare chance to start in yesterday’s match at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in Tuscany, with Nicolo Barella given a rest.

The former Atalanta midfielder, who is expected to leave the Nerazzurri when his contract expires at the end of June, formed the starting midfield trio alongside Marcelo Brozovic and Hakan Calhanoglu.

It was a by-the-numbers performance from the Inter midfielder, the Corriere argues, as he was not particularly impactful defensively and also had little contribution to make in the final third.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Brozovic received the same grade as Gagliardini from the Corriere, who argue that the Croat slowed down Inter’s play too much, whilst his indecision led to a couple first-half errors in possession.

The last player to receive a 5.5/10 score was forward Joaquin Correa, who the newspaper deems to have been off the pace in attack, also contributing very little concretely.

Meanwhile, striker Romelu Lukaku received an excellent 8/10 score, with his match-winning second half performance singled out as the obvious decisive factor for the Nerazzurri.

Lautaro Martinez also received a score of 7/10 from the Corriere, who praise the Argentine for injecting some energy late on to get the team over the line, wrapping up the three points with a well-taken finish after an assist from Lukaku.

Then, the newspaper also hand a 7/10 score to Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi, who made no shortage of rotations to his starting eleven in view of the team’s packed fixture list but still sent out a team capable of getting the job done.