Inter beats Monza and opens up an advantage in the Italian Championship
The result took the team to 61 points and opened up a four-point lead over Napoli, who face Fiorentina this Sunday and are in second place…
Inter produced an epic comeback on Saturday to open up a lead at the top of the Serie A. Under the watchful eyes of their home fans, coach Simone Inzaghi’s team saw bottom-placed Monza take a 2-0 lead in the first half, and it was only after a goal in injury time that they came back to form. With goals from Arnautovic, Çalhanoglu and Kyriakopoulos (own goal), the hosts turned the match around to 3-2 and secured an important victory in Milan.
The result took the team to 61 points and opened up a four-point lead over Napoli, who face Fiorentina this Sunday, in second place. Monza, who had a taste of victory, remain in last place with just 14 points.
Both teams will return to action in the national competition next weekend. The Milan team will travel to Bergamo and face Atalanta on Sunday. The day before, Monza will open the doors of its stadium to welcome Parma.
With a clear favorite and with the support of their fans, Inter Milan entered the field playing predictable and uninspired football. Facing a completely withdrawn rival, the home team barely bothered their opponent and began to make repeated positioning errors in their defense.
With no great ambitions in the match, Monza had the counterattack as their only strategy. And in the 32nd minute, the improbable happened. Dany Mota found space in the midfield, gave a good assist to Brindelli who, with a cross shot, beat goalkeeper Martinez and opened the scoring.
Unable to react and attacking in a disorganized manner, Inter conceded the second goal at the end of the first half. Keita Balde received the ball, was not bothered by the opposing defenders and risked a shot that went into the corner: 2-0 and silence in the stands.
A glimmer of hope appeared in injury time. Denzel Dumfries crossed the ball perfectly and Arnautovic managed to head it in and reduce the deficit to 2-1. VAR was called in, but after the referee reviewed the decision, the goal was confirmed.
When the second half began, the situation changed completely. Inter came back hungry for victory, cornered their rivals and started playing in their own half the whole time. All this pressure finally paid off in the 20th minute.
After a good exchange of passes from the entire attack, the ball fell to Yan Bissek on the right side. He played the ball into the area, Lautaro Martínez got out of the play and the rebound fell to Hakan Çalhanoglu, who struck a firm and low shot to tie the match at 2-2.
The goal that sealed the comeback came thanks to Brazilian Carlos Augusto. He crossed the ball from the left, Lautaro Martínez came in to contest the move, but defender Kyriakopoulos scored an own goal. Goalkeeper Turati stretched and palmed the ball away, giving the impression that he had made the save. After the move, however, the referee confirmed that the ball had crossed the line and confirmed the 3-2 victory for the Milan team.
