After the game against Siena the team was criticized by both supporters and President Moratti for not playing as a team and for not having shown the right attitude. It prompted Cassano to give a rare interview to Sky in which he said “I believe the people with character we have here need to give that bit extra and that everyone needs to follow them. That’s it.”
In tonight’s game, this was not a problem. Inter, who returned to the 4-2-3-1 formation, started at a furious pace and after a corner in the second minute the ball finally ended up at the feet of Antonio Cassano, who, from a tight angle, gave Inter the lead 1-0 with a shot at the closest goalpost. Inter who recently have had anything but luck could thank Chievo’s goalkeeper Puggioni for the goal.
However, Inter were overly hospitable and allowed an equalizer from Chievo after Gargano and Juan allowed Rigoni to pass and let him, completely unmarked, make it 1-1 with a header. The same Rigoni distinguished himself minutes earlier when he only received a yellow card after he had made a violent tackle on Javier Zanetti. The tempo continued to be high and Antonio Cassano, who was in a great mood and showed that he could put words into action by being the best on the pitch, passed nicely to a stampeding Esteban Cambiasso was close to making it 2-1 in the 25th minute, but Chievo’s goalkeeper Puggioni redeemed himself and made an amazing save. On the ensuing corner from Cassano, Inter managed to take the lead again when Andrea Ranocchia reached high and headed the ball into the net. In the 37th minute Inter had a good free kick opportunity a few yards outside the penalty area and I was probably not the only one who was convinced that Cassano would take it. Instead it was Gargano who shot a stunning free kick but hit the post and refuted all who didn’t believe that “El Mota” had sensitive feet.
In the second half Inter managed to improve their marking and when Milito made it 3-1 after a fine assist from Cambiasso it felt like this Sunday evening would end in a positive way. Inter continued to line up chances but neither Palacio, Nagatomo or Ricky managed to take advantage of them. The game ended 3-1 and Inter and Stramaccioni can now turn their focus on Thursday’s game in the Europa League against Cluj.
The most positive thing about the game was of course that Inter won, but it was also how they won. The marking mistakes made in the first half were corrected in the second and suggests that Stramaccioni saw what was wrong and corrected it. Cambiasso and Gargano must also be commended. First and foremost, they were really good in front of their back line and in this match they seemed tireless and were everywhere. Gargano, who is one of the most criticized players this season, was an accomplice at Chievo’s equalizer, but during the rest of the game he was brilliant and made, without a doubt, his best performance in the Inter shirt. Cambiasso, who didn’t play against Siena showed his importance for Inter and was involved in almost everything, both offensively and defensively and could very well have scored. In other words: he was the Cambiasso we all already know and love so much.
The biggest cheer at the Meazza tonight was caused by Dejan Stankovic’s comeback when he replaced Cambiasso in the 78th minute. Personally, I dream about Deki, once more, scoring a goal in a Derby della Madonnina in two weeks. Why not on a volley from one of Kuzmanovic’s many wonderful cross passes, which he showed off in tonight’s game.
Inter have won again and hopefully this was what the team needed to reach far in the Europa League, Coppa Italia and Serie A.
