To be honest, I did not expected Inter to beat Roma on Sunday. I had expected a draw or a defeat on the back of another boring, laboured performance against Bologna last Tuesday. It has been uninspiring for most or all season, not inspiring enough for me to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for the second time in a week. I was surprised to find out when I woke up that Inter had beaten Roma. I was not surprised at the scoreline though. Upon further investigation (pardon the police lingo), I was pleasantly surprised to note that Danilo D'Ambrosio made his first start of the season and more importantly (for me at least), there was no Mauro Icardi! I felt like an idiot for missing the match. Icardi didn't even come on in the second half so that's no Icardi at all for the entire game. It called for something I rarely do, record the re-run of the game.
After watching the re-run, these are my observations, it was pretty equal between Inter and Roma in the first half until the screamer from Gary Medel. The identity of the goalscorer was unexpected. I had never seen him try something like that at all from watching him at Cardiff City, Chile and then Inter. I didn't think he was even capable of that but it was a great goal nevertheless and I was delighted for him. He has been a great signing for Inter. He is tenacious, reads the game well and does a great job as a defensive midfielder. A great replacement for Esteban Cambiasso with the difference being that the Argentine legend was always capable of popping up with a goal occasionally and he has scored some great ones along the way. Inter clearly had a game plan to counter Roma. In attack, it was 4-3-3 and while defending it was 4-5-1. The discipline of Ivan Perisic and Adem Ljajic to drop back into midfield to defend was impressive but I was particularly impressed by Ljajic. I was surprised at his display. I didn't expect him to defend so well and with such discipline. He did well to assist D'Ambrosio on the right wing to counter the threat of Gervinho and Lucas Digne.I was not surprised with D'Ambrosio's performance as I have seen what he is capable of last season. He slotted in at right back almost seamlessly in his first start of the season. On the opposite flank, Yuto Nagatomo made his second start of the season but it was one thing to play against Palermo and another to face an Inter legend, Maicon and a speed demon in Mohamed Salah. He had help from Perisic who I was not surprised of because he looked like the type of winger who would track back and help in defence. Inter sat back and invited Roma on to them, looking to hit them on the break. They made it tough for Roma in the first half to gain much headway going forward largely due to the defensive shape and organisation but sat too dangerously deep in the second half.
The front three of Balkan/Eastern European talents in Perisic, Ljajic and Stevan Jovetic were refreshingly mobile. It was the most exciting we have been in attack all season although neither scored. There was obvious potential in the trio but unfortunately not much was seen of them as an attacking force due to the defensive duties they had to carry out. Inter vs Roma pitted the best defence in Serie A against the best attack in Serie A and in the second half it was literally defence vs attack something one would have seen practiced on the training grounds. Nagatomo had a great game. He dealt with the threat of Salah first and when he didn't get much success on that flank, Gervinho switched flanks to try his luck and he too failed to get the better of the Japanese. It was a blow for Inter to lose the goalscorer, Medel and the team did look a little disjointed while trying to cope with his lost. Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo did the best they could in central defence but Edin Dzeko did manage to get the better of them on occasions but thankfully he didn't cause any lasting damage on Inter.
Then came the outstanding performance of Samir Handanovic. There were some speculative attempts that was easily saved by the big Slovenian and then he had to make some tougher saves but the pick of the bunch was when he made four saves consecutively in a minute. Super Handanovic
Inter have relied heavily on him for the past two seasons and his quality came to the fore again for Inter. Handanovic was again absolutely crucial in helping Inter get a big win (not in terms of score but in terms of value). The sending off of Miralem Pjanic did help Inter's cause as Roma lost arguably their most creative source and a great threat from set pieces especially directly from free kicks. Inter won once again thanks to a great goal and great tactical, defensive display. Every player played their part. My star men were Handanovic and Nagatomo. Defence won on the night. It was not the most attractive or entertaining football we would watch all season as Inter fans or as neutrals but strangely enough, I feel contented at the end of the match considering the fact that I have been complaining/moaning all season on the defensive, boring displays of the team. Maybe the absence of Icardi had something to do with it.
Next for Inter is a lunchtime kick off against Torino at Stadio Olimpico. The timing of the kickoff and the quality of the opponents will pose a stern challenge and I wouldn't be surprised to see another display of defensive discipline looking to hit on counter, relying on a scrappy or marvellous goal to win it. There is a doubt on the fitness of Medel and I am afraid that in his absence, Felipe Melo will be reinstated. Fredy Guarin is suspended so there is vacancy for one midfielder and that could be between Melo and Geoffrey Kondogbia if Medel is fit enough to start. I am not sure if D'Ambrosio and Nagatomo would start although based on their previous performance, they deserve to start as does Marcelo Brozovic. I hope the Balkan attacking trio of Perisic, Jovetic and Ljajic keeps their place instead of seeing Icardi reinstated in the starting lineup.
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