The narrow margin of victory in yesterday’s Coppa Italia semifinal second leg victory over Juventus only told half the story and was the least that Inter deserved.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who argue that the Nerazzurri’s superiority was greater than indicated by the 1-0 scoreline and more than worth their place in the final of the competition.
Inter fans did have to sit through a bit of a nail-biting finish to yesterday evening’s match, as they knew that all that was needed was a moment of quality from one of Juventus’s best players, a mistake, or a deflection to suddenly send the semifinal tie into extra time.
However, in truth it probably shouldn’t have gotten this far.
As was the case with Inter’s 1-0 win over AC Milan in the league in February, Inter were the clearly superior team despite only winning the match by a solitary goal.
Wingback Federico Dimarco scored relatively early on to give the Nerazzurri their precious advantage, but in truth they had a few good chances to widen their advantage, which was far more than the Bianconeri had fashioned with which to equalize.
Rather, Inter’s clean sheet was well-earned, as they defended well both individually and as a collective, with a sluggish Juventus attack having no answer.
Inter’s first half performance was virtually pitch-perfect, knowing the right times to step up and press the Bianconeri or to sit back and bide their time, always in control of the key areas of the pitch and the tempo of play.
The result was a statement win in a fixture which the Nerazzurri had failed to get anything out of in two league meetings.
Inter are in the Coppa Italia final, and on the balance of play, few could argue that this wasn’t the right result.