Inter Milan coach Cristian Chivu has decided to start Ange-Yoan Bonny and Andy Diouf against Lecce. This evening’s Serie A clash kicks off at 20:45 CET at the San Siro.
The match kicks off at 21:45 GMT (20:45 Local Time) in Milan.
Inter Milan dropped the lead twice in Sunday’s gut-wrenching 2-2 home draw against direct Scudetto rivals Napoli.
Indeed, Scott McTominay’s double canceled out Federico Dimarco and Hakan Calhanoglu’s goals.
Furthermore, Cristian Chivu lost the Turkish midfielder to injury toward the end of the game.
View this post on Instagram
Therefore, the 45-year-old had to change his starting lineup tonight.
Inter Milan vs Lecce – Bonny Returns To Starting XI
Ange-Yoan Bonny made his last Serie A start in a 2-0 home win over Lazio at the beginning of November.
Moreover, the French striker scored in that match. However, a lack of fitness has since restricted him to only 32 minutes in Serie A.
Despite his recent issues, the 22-year-old returns to the starting XI this evening to partner up with Marcus Thuram.
As such, Lautaro Martinez drops to the bench after failing to find the net in back-to-back league games.
Chivu Hands Andy Diouf His First Serie A Start This Season
The main talking point comes on the right flank, where Andy Diouf is in line to make his first Serie A start.
With Denzel Dumfries and Matteo Darmian both unavailable, Luis Henrique is benched and Andy Diouf gets a chance to regain Chivu’s trust.
Meanwhile, Federico Dimarco surrenders his place on the left flank to Carlos Augusto.
At the back, Chivu leans on experience with Francesco Acerbi between Alessandro Bastoni and Manuel Akanji. Therefore, Yann Bisseck gets some rest.
Furthermore, Henrikh Mkhitaryan returns to the engine room alongside Piotr Zielinski and Nicolo Barella.
Therefore, the Polish midfielder takes Calhanoglu’s role as a deep-lying playmaker.
Inter Milan vs Lecce – Official Starting Lineups: Bonny & Diouf Start
Inter Milan (3-5-2): 1 Sommer; 25 Akanji, 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni; 17 Diouf, 23 Barella, 7 Zielinski, 22 Mkhitaryan, 30 Carlos Augusto; 14 Bonny, 9 Thuram.
Bench: 40 Calligraris, 60 Taho, 6 De Vrij, 8 Sucic, 10 Lautaro Martinez, 11 Luis Henrique, 16 Frattesi, 31 Bisseck, 32 Dimarco, 36 Darmian, 43 Cocchi, 44 Berenbruch, 45 Bovo, 94 Esposito.
Coach: Chivu.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable/injured: Di Gennaro, Palacios, Dumfries, Martinez, Calhanoglu.
Lecce (4-2-3-1): 30 Falcone; 17 Veiga, 5 Siebert, 44 Tiago Gabriel, 25 Gallo; 29 Coulibaly, 93 Maleh; 50 Pierotti, 16 Gandelman, 23 Sottil; 9 Stulic.
Bench: 1 Fruchtl, 32 Samooja, 3 Ndaba, 6 Sala, 7 Tete Morente, 11 N’Dri, 13 Perez, 14 Helgason, 18 Jean, 21 Kouassi, 28 Gorter, 36 Marchwiński, 77 Kaba, 79 Ngom.
Coach: Di Francesco.
Suspended: Gaspar (3), Banda (1), Ramadani (1).
Unavailable/injured: Berisha and Pierret.
Referee: Maresca.
Assistants: Passeri and Di Gioia.
Fourth official: Manganiello.
Var: Maggioni.
Avar: Chiffi.
People are saying Inter played bad. Inter had 21 shots and 7 on Target with 68% possession. Lecce had 1 shot on target and I think it came late in the second half. Inter kept pressing for the goal while never looking uncomfortable at the back, on some days that could’ve finished by a much higher margin, on other days it is just about getting the ball in the back of the net and those three points, cuz some days in serie A that goal just doesn’t come. And there are many times when Inter throw on a bunch of strikers and it leads to nothing so happy it made the difference this time.
Some of these comments are insufferable
I responded to your Esposito loan comment below!
I saw your comment and lost it because this page is atrocious so I’ll be replying to this for the comment made below. Also I don’t get an email or notification when someone responds to my comment and have to leave this window open when I make a comment, another inconvenience of this ridiculous comment section. Anyway to address your comment, I ask for Pio to be loaned out, not sold because I believe he does have potential to be a serious striker (just not now). Take a look at Di Marco and how many loan spells he had before turning out to be this monster of a LB. Pio doesn’t contribute any new skill set to the team that isn’t already there; holding up the ball, assisting, creating chances etc is already being done by Thuram who in my opinion is invaluable to this team, regardless of some on here calling him Lazy. Pio needs to be more like Thuram in terms of bringing his team mates into the game with good close and chest control, something he lacks. You’re right I def did not like Dzeko AND Lukaku but Pio is like a son to Chivu and he trusts him so. If Chivu sees potential then who am I to say otherwise BUT I just believe his potential needs to be honed in a smaller team where there’s less pressure and expectation.
We can agree to disagree, he’s extremely useful in the first team RIGHT now, to be starting instead of Thuram, probably not, but for depth, 100%
. A big NO to your loan idea
Miki is good for finishing off matches when Inter is winning he just can’t score and sometimes you need a goal from midfield to unlock the match. Diouf shows that he’s way more attack minded than Henrique and he did deliver enough forward passes to results in a goal if not for both Thuram and Bony not being interested in shooting. Barella below standard negative body language
Oh and BTW get rid of Barella he’s useless and sign K. Thuram or Andrey Santos.
Worst match ever. Painful to watch. What a bad way to win. Thuram all he does is diving and trying some flicks here N there and guy looks uninterested to play. Miki was unwatchable all these players has to go. When lautaro and Esposito came on we started playing imagine if they started in first half. Bad bad choice of lineup from chivu in the beginning. Sh* game overall. This is not how you win matches. Anyways pazza f****ING inter will never change.
Worst match ever? How long have you been watching Inter matches? Tou might have a surprise if you chech one particular Seria A home game from 2001….
Worst match against lecce, and bad desicions by the coach. I worded it wrong.
I thought we agreed that match never happened 🙂
Anyway. I really wanted to see them grind a 1-0. Done. The ref forgot the yellow for a shirt pull before the penalty and let everyone tackle as they wish. Not good. His job is to implement the rules. Not let it flow. Missed tons of fouls. I wount mind 1-0 wins for Inter in the next 4 matches.
Now como should beat mailan and then we’ll see if lecce wanna play even harder on sunday. Sassuolo might wanna wake up for their game on saturday.
What we need to do is make it 9 points before all that to put the pressure on the clowns behind us.
And. One last thing. Chivu is learning. Heavy rotation was needed and formation tweak in game. Twice.
The game was too physical. Too many fouls not given. Maresca let lecce play their rugby. We came to play football.
Thats where the issue is. Otherwise – bonny and andy are growing in terms of personality. And davide came in like a wrecking ball. Stole so many balls.
Its all good at the end. More work is needed of course.
Now off to udine
Forza Inter
This is not how you win matches and yet we won and Napoli lost against Parma.
Keep talking..
Just my opinion..
It doesn’t matter. A win is a win. In 3 months time it won’t matter how the game against Lecce was won. But sure, your opinion can be your opinion.
And it is not the worst match against Lecce…
For me it was the worst match against lecce.
And it matters to me.
And it will stay that way. It’s not how you win matches.
It does not matter and it will stay this way -> Ugly game, 3 points! Time to move on!
Nope. It does matter to me tho. Not how you win matches. But I’ll take the 3points. I moved on long time ago but you still like to continue to argue with me.
No one is argiung with you. I told you it is time to move on! But you can have the final say if it will make you sleep better. It can matter to you but it doesn’t matter to me. 3 points, win!
tariq is a new fan, there were many bad game in inter history than versus lecce.. very much new and stupid fan
What a game! Win is a win! Diouf and Miki this game is really below the bar. Thuram looks exhausted again for the whole game. Good reflection for Sommer. Pio the man!!!
Pio and Lautaro saved the day. Ugly win, but win is what counts. I think Bonny-Pio or Bonny-Lautaro is better than Bonny-Thuram.
Woohoo. Important win. Now waiting for favor from Nico Paz. 😛
I had this feeling that both Napoli and Milan would lose points again this round. Napoli did, hopefully Milan will follow suit.
We hope so, Inter fan. 😉
Poor performance but who cares, 6 points ahead, thats all that matters tonight!
there’s no sugar coating it this was a filthy match and winning theses filthy matches is what wins you the scudetto!
forza interrr
Forza Inter
Honestly, kind of a terrible game. Scared for Udinese and then Arsenal right after. Need to fix the midfield
No more Barella. He’s too negative too passive. Today he was by far the worst player on the field
IF we win this league, remember how difficult a watch this one was.
Wins a win
Move on
All champs have tough games. If we win the league we won Despite this team. Nobody will be delusional and think we dont need reinforcements.
Three points aside, one of the most forgettable games so far.
The team’s football continues to be poor. We kind of managed to score a goal. They could include Fratesi in exchange for a right-back. Since finding one at zero cost will be difficult.
We are first on the table and 6 points ahead of Conte. We are doing well. It is in the UCL where we will soon be in trouble IMO.
while the team struggles to win games by 3 or 4 goals, a win is still a win. and it goes a long way in grinding out points.
Thuram has been awful, just looking to dive thats all. What’s happened to this guy, injuries yes but he doesnt hold the ball, cant take anyone on, doesnt press, toy’s too many flicks instead of keeping it simple, i could go on all day, he was really good when we signed him, he’s half the player!
france’s national team forward are so stacked that thuram probably thinks he has no chance to make it to final squad barring serious injury to in-form players.
Frattesi working there like he doesn’t want to leave
I’m not like the biggest thuram criticizer. He gets goals and he is reliable at times. But god sometimes he’s just so lazy.
Wth was that thuram
Sommer, Darmian, Acerbi, De Vrij, Palacios, Bisseck, Luis, Diouf, Dumfries, Mhiki, Hakan, Frattesi, Thuram need to leave in summer. From their sales, expired contracts + money from sales of Pavard, S. Esposito and hopefully Asllani will get us more than 200 mil in budget and free more than 50 mil in wages. Beppe and co. need to do better than last summer.
have you ever seen a team move 10 players out of the club and replace them successfully without compromising the sporting side of things? What you’re saying is not only unrealistic, but it’s actually insane.
Let’s see, Sommer is horrible so it won’t be that hard to find at least a good backup and give Martinez a season to show if he can carry us. Darmian, Acerbi, De vrij, Mhiki are way past their prime, Palacios doesn’t play and Bisseck often makes silly mistakes. Frattesi and Diouf don’t play that much, Luis showed absolutely nothing. Thuram is a joke, by the end of the season he’ll be at the bottom of pecking order in attack. As for Hakan, maybe he can stay, but more and more injury problems, defensive mistakes aren’t going in his favor. Which of them is irreplacable?
You cannot give any player a whole season just to see if he can do this Inter job or not. There is no time and no patience from the board and from the fans
This last and next summer should’ve been the time to rejuvenate the squad and get rid of some of the players who aren’t up to the task. Martinez should’ve gotten way more starts this season instead of Sommer, Darmian and one of Acerbi/De Vrij needed to be let go, Frattesi and Dumfries needed to be replaced, cause both of them already wanted to leave, and both of them were awful this half season. Is 10 players leaving at once a lot? It is, but the problem was we were late to replace half of them this summer, then it shouldn’t have become an issue.
I agree.
That guy plays too many video games.
pipedream bro
Lol idk what you’re smoking but you need to quit
Mikhi and Hakan should stay for another season. They can serve as rotation options. We can add Stankovic, and Sucic will be more mature.
We need to buy a quality GK, 2 CBs, 1 or 2 RWBs (depending on whether Dumfries stays or not). With all these needs we can’t afford to buy another quality midfielder too.
IMO Thuram&Bonny is the worst combo we can put in the attack. I was not convinced when I saw them both in the starting lineup.
They’re too similar
Indeed.
Both play similarly and don’t press when it’s clear now CHivu prefers players to press aggressively upfront. Both drifts wide and hold the ball too long for the defence to get back only to pass backwards when the chance is closed out
Lautaro decided to shoot and Inter gets a goal
Exactly
Chivu underestimated lecce so he decided to put the worst line up thinking we would win easily but look the match about to finish soon and Esposito just scored. I hope this won’t be viewed by var. Now make the 2nd goal!!!!
PIOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Paulo and young microwave saying pio needs a loan spell. keep talking plastic fans.
if anything, he should be getting more minutes from thuram. guy seems to loses his winning drive.
I honestly think he plays best with Lautaro. He should replace thuram. good hold up and link up play.
He missed that haha
What are you like 12yrs old?!
Next you’ll be saying if Mikhi scores he’s on the ballon d’or list
Scoring a tap in doesn’t make you ready, he also completely scuffed it in.
I bet you’re one of the “non plastic real” fans that berates Lautaro every week
Just support your team
Keep yapping. it’s all u do. He was there at the right place and right time. u know who also scores tap ins? Haaland.
He miscued that shot… He has lots of room for improvement..
so are you in favor or against Inter developing their young players? If Inter loans Pio, you’d be saying that management and the entire Serie A is daft. Pio is given chances, but it seems you want to loan him out now? Pick a lane and stay consistent.
Did he or did he not miscue the shot?? Ooh well, bottom line is that he scored… On another day, say versus a big team the outcome may be different…
Lautaro thuram and bony miss hit shots all the time. Nobody cares how it goes in but a hater dude. Be for real. All that matters is it goes in.
Lol… Okay man…
PIO!!!!!
that’s how to score a goal
Finally!! Pio!!
Finally!!!!!!!
So many crosses lol.
We needed to, otherwise how do you force the issue against a team that refuses to attack?
Did I say it incorrect to do so? No, it just I haven’t seen so many for a long time.
I just reinforced your point. Not trying to argue
I don’t like him
But if you’re just gonna pepper their box for 20 mins
Stick bisseck on up front
I’m f**n pissed off with this team I almost broke my TV don’t do this to me interrrr!!!
I’m fucking pissed off with this team I almost broke my TV don’t do this to me interrrr!!!
All of them to a man have been a disgrace tonight
The terrible decision making is school boy stuff
Esposito needs another loan spell. He’s not ready!
Careful – I said that, and you know what happened lol
Sebastiano is way better than Pio…
Your High dude, Nobody but you believes that nonsense
How is Sebasiano way better?
What was that??
It him or Correa level player.
What was that?
He needs to play more. He was doing well at the beginning, but was benched too much eventually.
Microwave stop this esposito loan garbage. He is ready now! He brings elements to the team that none of the other strikers do. He doesn’t need to assist or score to be a serious handful for defenders in the team even though he is gradually adding assists and goals to his game, no to loaning him out, no no no!!! and you say he reminds you of dzeko and you hated dzeko, so what do you think of Pio?! No wonder you want him loaned.
Was that a save from Sommer? Impossible
We will soon be kicked out of the UCL. At least don’t throw the Scudetto away.
You are overreacting.
Should have happened 20 mins ago ffs
And Dimarco should be on too.
100% like wth chivu been asleep for the whole game
Yes sub that old f*** off!!!
Bring on lautaro chivuuuu!!!!
Napoli drew against Parma we can’t lose points against lecce!!
Why is Esposito too afraid to shoot?? Have some self belief maaan
this match has drained the life out of me
Just when you thought chivu might be ok…
He pulls a classic 22/23 Inzaghi
I hope chivu reads my comment please this is too painful sub off miki
He won’t
But kolarov is on here all the time lol
Ffs Mikhi just retire
Terrible football so far. L. Henrique, Diouf, and Susic were money thrown away. They aren’t players of Inter’s level. It seems that unless they’re free agents, this board doesn’t know how to sign players, lol.
Sucic is good and will gradually mature. He comes from outside the Top 5 leagues, so it is expectable for him to need time.
On the other hand Henrique and Diouf indeed should have not been bought. With the 45-50 mln spent on those 2 we could have bought a quality player.
Can you just sub off miki chivu
Please chivu this is painful to watch sub off miki
Can you just sub off mikhitarian f* sake chivu
Can you just sub off mikhi shtarian chivu
Can you just sub off mikhi shtarian f* sake chivu
Who’s brain dead idea was it to let Miki take a free kick,
mkhi… i would think u would learn.
How the f**k does Mikhi stay on?!!!
The only way this game gets won is with Lautaro and Dimarco
Seriously ffs!!!!
Diouf, Mikhi & Thuram keeping my
Blood pressure pill supplier in business
Finally, some combinations..
The injuries seem to have slowed Marcus down a lot.
The lack of interest and motivation too
Other teams keep giving Inter chances to pull forward, let’s see if they can use the opportunity this time.
Chivu my man, in summer ask for some different kind of players. You’ve kept this formation, ok, it works most of the time for us, but when it’s clear it’s not working we don’t have 2nd option. Mix it with 4-2-3-1 or something like that, some stability and creativity in midfield, a little faster player on the side and we’re golden.
Get Diouf, Mikhi and Thuram off this pitch ffs ,
Bony and Thuram can’t play together neither have the ability to shoot first ask questions later policy like Pio and Lautaro which means if the same lineup continue it’s a draw or worse. Barella is just a shell of himself playing like he’s forced to be there and only Zielinski in midfield is interested in shooting as Mikhi forgot how to score months ago.Fresh players in the second half are need from the start not in the 70th minute
I wouldnt mind seeing Bonny move to LW and we remove a midfielder i.e Barella or Mhiki and put on Pio to stretch them more, we really need much much more in attack, a draw is a loss tonight
Wow it really seems like Barella is going more worse each game we play. He needs a long rest. His set pieces have been awful as well.
Maybe it’s not rest but regressing because of the comfort he feels knowing his position is not at risk. In fact Inter are about to sell Frattesi so it means he knows there’s no competition for his place. A bench for a couple of matches and only coming on to close out matches will make him start to work harder
He has been on decline for over a year now. It is not about being tired.
I completely agree, however Barella needs to be dropped for a period to send a message to him, he’s been bog awful for too long now, has one good game in ten.
Bonny been great, Thuram has been a ghost. We don’t have a midfield atm. Diouf is doing good, way better than Henrique. Carlos needs to do a bit better. Defense and Sommer are doing fine. Need a better second half.
Thuram has dropped pace and now looks more ordinary than when we first signed him, he can’t take anyone on, we really need at least one dribbler in this team. I hope we dont blow our chances to go clear of Napoli…
How much I hate this passive passing style of play.. I’d rather we sit back and counter than watch this pointless possession game.
Thank god you’re not the coach or owner. I hate watching a team sit back and try to hit on the counter. That’s called mid table mentality, there is not top team that is currently sitting back and letting the opponent steamroll them for 90 mins. That would be like watching the love of your life getting stuffed by someone else.
How would you describe this style then genius? Is this the entertainment you are craving?
100% this is what I was craving for years. If Chivu gets what he wants to implement his style of play we’d get a lot more exciting. This system we are currently using is not what the coach favors but he has adapted brilliantly.
Let’s hope future looks bright.
So, now starts trend of draws for Inter? We need Dimarco and Lautaro at second half.
wow…Barella just forgot how to play, only passing backwards, sideways or crossing it outside…there is no forward passes and the midfield is loosing all 50/50 balls. at this pace there is no hope to score anytime soon.
hes corner delivery also poor
I wonder what the gameplan and preparation was looking like regarding this game. Pass pass pass and expect to get a result? I can recall one, maybe two dangerous shots at the target. Chivu needs to figure this out quick.
And there’s people here complaining about Dima. 60% of our attacks are going over him.
He is the only danger coming from the wings. He’s the least of our problems right now.
I understand the changes.
But the performance needs a rocket at half time
With Dimarco / Lautaro coming on
we just dont have enough player in the penalty area, bonny and thuram tends to play wide, and nobody in the center. same as previous match against napoli
Mikhi trying to set them on the counter
Lautaro is by far our best striker, this daddy’s boy isn’t close to him at all. Useless in team play, finishing average, always a dribble more than needed. Chivu should give youngsters some playing time, 15, 20 minutes here and there in some easier games.
Oh wow mhki sent someone just to do that
mkhi… just stop please.
Desperately need Lautaro to come off the bench…
mikhi is trying to duplicate guarin
He is trying the most out of all our mids. Where is barella?
Why are we overpassing and looking penalty
Omg I’ve never known a side consistently blunder counter attacks by just getting to the edge of their box and trying to pass them to death
Who still thinks Diouf is better than Luis on the right side?! Inter hasn’t been able to effectively progress the ball on this side easily in the first half.
I’d take my chances with a guy who at least tries to be somewhat unpredictable.
They’re both on the long list of names nowhere near good enough
Who should be paying their agents handsomely for getting them this gig
Yep he’s better than Henrique because with Henrique we don’t have to guess we know he’s bad
Learn to score without trying to get a penalty come, these players are starting to get rediculous.
Be patient, there is plenty of time to score and win the game.
Honestly, i dont know if id give this as a penalty.. there was contact but kinda looks like he fell to easy..
Maybe im just outdated but i feel like defenders got a bad deal in modern football
From the replay, Lecce player got to the ball first, so no pen. I can live with that.
Now that’s a penalty without diving. My little Bonny is a beast!!
VAR will stop that one
Offside on the initial attack
looks like it
Offside and not a penalty
Unfortunately looks like we’re gonna need some help today
Looks like they didnt even bring up the offsides to the ref
They showed it, it was clear I dunno why we have 6 min stoppage when we could all see the offside on our TV’s in real time
They’re looking at who got the ball first? Don’t know about this one…
Amazing by Bonny
Good thing if they start to give more yellows for diving. It’s like little girls play not grown man.
Yh all this diving is getting out of hand these players should get punished for it every time they dive give them 3 match ban.
Most annoying thing that ever happened to this sport. Everything is so feminized now….
100%
Thuram has lost the plot recently, not only has all his pace gone, he looks uninterested all the time
And tries stupid tricks and flicks and now add to that dives
that wasn’t a clip on thuram’s heel? what a quick yellow and clear by VAR.
even after 3 replay, i can’t see whether if there is a clear contact or not
Is Barella trying to be more Captain like today? I see a lot of encouragement from him to his teamates.
There’s nothing more “PAZZA inter” than screwing this opportunity up
Please god let us win this
Napoli Parma 0 0. Let’s win this.
wow…lets hope we get three points here since Parma just managed a clean sheet against McTominay and co. something we couldn’t do.