Inter took on Sassuolo at home in this Sunday’s lunch match in Serie A’s 19th round, a match which means that Inter now has faced all teams in the league once, and that the season has reached the halfway point. In the season’s first 18 matches Inter had collected a total of 39 points, which placed the team in first place. A win against Sassuolo would make sure that the team maintained the position but a win would also maintain the distance to Juventus and Napoli, while the distance to Fiorentina and Roma could be increased as both the latter teams dropped points in this round.
Even though it is anything but official, still not wholly insignificant, the title of Campione d’Inverno (Winter Champion) was at stake. The title does not have any real significance but has often given a hint about which team that will be the Champion when all the matches of the championship have been played. Since Serie A was expanded to 20 teams in 2004/05 the team that has been in the lead halfway through the competition has always won the Scudetto. This season, however, is unusual because four teams had a chance to become Campione d’Inverno before this round, something that has not happened since the season 1990/91. That season Inter were at the top of the table after half the season’s matches had been played, but finished third.
For the first time this season, Inter coach Roberto Mancini opted to start with exactly the same starting eleven in two consecutive matches. The same 4-3-3 that defeated Empoli away got the chance to make sure Inter got away from the match with all three points. Ljajic, Perisic and Icardi were the ones who would ensure that the more than 40,000 in the attendance at the Giuseppe Meazza would get to see goals today.
The first half ended scoreless but the match was by no means boring. Inter started off well, creating a couple of scoring opportunities during the first minutes. First Icardi got the ball from Medel after four minutes but failed to find the back of the net and just seconds later Ljajic got the ball from Icardi but missed what should have been a certain goal for Inter. These two missed chances would prove haunting for Inter today.
In the 9th minute Inter’s D’Ambrosio went down after getting Berardi’s hand in his face. No call was made by referee Doveri, who is infamous for making calls that aren’t in favor of Inter. It seemed as if Berardi’s action was unintenional but at the same time I think we can all remember similar incidents when the referees have had no problems showing red cards to Inter players.
In the 19th minute Inter’s Ljajic got his second great opportunity in front of goal but despite being alone in front of goal he sent the ball high.
Two minutes later Handanovic in Inter’s goal had to make two great saves, one on Missirolli and one on D’Ambrosio’s inadvertent touch. Handanovic’s colleague on the other side of the pitch, Consigli, also proved that, as always, all goalkeepers in Serie A always give their best performances against Inter when he made a great save on a Ljajic’s shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 43rd minute.
In the second half Inter, and especially Ljajic, continued to look for the goal that would give them the lead in the match. Both in the 17th, 40th and 44th minute Consigli made great saves on shots by the Serb.
Considering Inter’s difficulties to break the dead lock there was great hope when we could see Jovetic warming up and possibly entering the pitch but the Montenegrin didn’t enter the pitch until the 41st minute, when the score was still 0-0.
When 90 minutes had been played and 5 minutes of extra time were announced it seemed as if the match was heading for a draw but in the 48th minute Inter got a corner which was wasted as Nagatomo inexplicably passed the ball to Ljajic who was offside. With one minute left of the match Jeison Murillo made an unusual misjudgment and Miranda fouled Defrel in the penalty box, giving Sassuolo the chance to win the match and Berardi made no mistake from eleven meters.
With the loss Inter most likely will not be crowned Campione d’Inverno as Napoli currently dominates Frosinone and went to the half-time break with a comfortable 2-0 lead, a result that sees Maurizio Sarri’s team overtaking the lead and passing Inter by two points. Hopefully, we won’t have to look back at this match as a negative turning point. Hopefully, Inter will bounce back from this and continue to battle for the top spots in a Serie A that is incredibly even. Inter had the opportunity to make a strong statement by winning against Sassuolo and staying in first place after the first 19 matches but failed. This loss shows that Mancini, despite the obvious improvements he’s made to the team, still has a lot of work left to do. Inter finishes the first half of the season with 13 points more than at the same time last season but tonight Sassuolo proved that when a team doesn’t take advantage of its chances it will pay the penalty and tonight Inter paid the penalty.
