Inter turn the game around after being two goals down at home

As if they came from the holiday on the beach and straight onto the pitch—that is how Inter looked during the first 35 minutes against Pisa. Cristian Chivu’s team appeared bizarre, just like the entire match at the Meazza was bizarre. Strange mistakes by the home side, so many misplaced passes, poor decisions in their own half, all without any real pressure from the visitors, who before this game were second from bottom in the table and had the fewest wins of all Serie A teams (one). And yet, even as such, they ruthlessly punished Inter’s nonchalant approach. Alberto Gilardino’s team took a two-goal lead, but Inter eventually managed to claim a convincing 6–2 victory.

Everything Chivu’s players did in the first 35 minutes was unworthy of a team fighting for the Scudetto. It is hard to say who made more mistakes, but the biggest one goes to Yann Sommer. Who knows what was going through the Swiss goalkeeper’s mind when, early in the match, he first unnecessarily left his goal and then played the ball straight into the feet of Stefano Moreo, who cheekily chipped him. The same player then took advantage of poor marking by Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the near post to double the lead. Silence fell over the Meazza. One of the main Scudetto contenders was on its knees. And then, as if someone had flipped a switch in the minds of the home players. From a sluggish, disinterested bunch, Inter transformed into a supersonic jet mowing down everything in its path. The team from the fashion capital stopped joking around and turned into a relentless machine. If what they showed in the first 35 minutes deserved only criticism, what followed from that moment until the final whistle showed why they are the reigning runners-up of Europe.

Pisa were thrown into the meat grinder and there was no escape. Inter swallowed their opponent in seven minutes and turned the result around—another bizarre twist in this match. Piotr Zielinski, Lautaro Martínez and Francesco Esposito made the key difference, and even stronger teams than Pisa would have little hope in such a scenario. The scoreline remained uncertain until the 82nd minute, but that was merely an illusion. Simone Scuffet performed miracles in goal, kept the visitors in the game and finished the match with seven saves, but even he was eventually beaten. In the final ten minutes of the second half, the hosts scored three more goals. Given the number of chances they created, they could have scored even more: Dimarco hit the post, Carlos Augusto was just off target, but those misses were ultimately redeemed by goals from Dimarco, Bony and Mkhitaryan.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 22

Friday

Inter - Pisa 6-2 (3-2)

/Zielnski 39 pen, Martinez 41, Esposito 45+2, Dimarco 82, Bonny 86, Mkhitaryan 90+3 - Moreo 11, 23/

Saturday

17.00: (1.67) Como (3.60) Torino (5.70)

20.00: (1.67) Fiorentina (3.70) Cagliari (5.50)

22.45: (3.60) Lecce (3.15) Lazio (2.20)

Sunday

14.30: (2.00) Sassuolo (3.50) Cremonese (4.10)

17.00: (1.43) Atalanta (4.50) Parma (7.50)

17.00: (3.05) Genoa (3.15) Bologna (2.60)

20.00: (2.15) Juventus (3.20) Napoli (3.90)

22.45: (2.65) Roma (3.10) Milan (3.00)

Monday

20.45: (2.80) Verona (2.95) Udinese (2.80)

***odds are subject to change***