Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez “ghosted” his team’s Serie A draw with Monza.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews. They name the Argentine as the Nerazzurri’s worst performer, but praise Federico Dimarco as the best.
Inter had to settle for a point in their return to Serie A from the international break.
The Nerazzurri could only draw 1-1 away in Monza in their fourth match of the season, failing to capitalize on a draw from Juventus earlier in the weekend.
And Inter’s flat performance was mostly the result of a lack of a cutting edge in possession and in attack.
In the view of the Gazzetta, a number of players were culpable in this sense.
In midfield, neither Kristjan Asllani nor Davide Frattesi were up to par. They had fairly uninspiring performances as Inter moved the ball around too slowly and never really opened up Monza.
Equally culpable was the much more experienced Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The former Roma and Arsenal man was technically sloppier than usual, and moved the ball sideways and backwards too often.
But above all, it was the captain who failed to inspire.
Inter Captain Lautaro Martinez “Ghosts” Monza Draw – Dimarco Named Best Performer
Martinez had one particularly good chance to score his first goal in Serie A for the season.
The Argentine missed his header from a good Federico Dimarco cross.
But beyond this, Martinez failed to get on the end of any telling chances.
The 27-year-old lacked sharpness and intensity. He decisively lost his battle with Brianzoli centre-back Pablo Mari, who largely marked him out of the match.
Martinez was hooked midway through the second half. And truthfully the team did not lose much in attack with his exit.
On the other hand, the Gazzetta praises the performance of wingback Dimarco.
The Italian international was on the pitch for the full ninety minutes, something that is relatively rare from him.
Dimarco provided telling deliveries into the box, and ran the match in possession on an evening when Inter were otherwise looking totally out of ideas.
Even though Dimarco began to show signs of fatigue in the latter stages, his passing quality remained evident throughout.