Tag Archives: Antonio Conte

Inter Milan are champions of Serie A for the first time in 11 years

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Finally Juventus’ domination of the Serie A championship has ended and Inter are the new champions! It has been a deserved title and Antonio Conte’s team have been far the best side in the league especially since January. Before then they were neck and neck with Milan but they faded and Inter roared on to win their first scudetto since 2010.

The title officially became Inter’s on Sunday when 2nd placed Atalanta failed to beat Sassuolo with that game ending in a draw. This is Inter’s first title since the glory days of Jose Mourinho 11 years ago.

This is Inter’s 19th league title and in fairness to the other teams they were head and shoulders above them. Since March it became a question of when Inter would win the title and not if. In the end just minutes after securing the title Juventus who had won 9 in a row congratulated their rivals. It would have been painful for Juve not to make it 10 in a row but then again they have had time to contemplate that not happening this season since they were so far behind. The Old Lady may not qualify for next season’s Champions League, though they are in 3rd place now it is still very close.

Antonio Conte explained Inter’s philosophy in winning the title, “The team really developed in that sense, and in a season you must be able to take different approaches to be unpredictable. You cannot always just attack or always defend, it’s about knowing when to push. That’s where we improved, in reading the game and knowing those moments. A team cannot press for 90 minutes non-stop. The opponents in Italy study you and find ways to neutralise your strengths. If you are patient and wait for the right moment to strike, and have a team that is in good shape physically, you know that sooner or later the opposition will lose intensity.”

The player who is arguably Inter’s best of this title winning season Romelu Lukaku had this to say about winning the league. “I am so happy for all the Inter fans in the world, for the team, the staff, the President and everyone. It was a wonderful year for us, I am truly proud to play for Inter. I wanted to come out here and celebrate along with the people. I told my friend this was the best way to experience it, to be there with the fans. For me and many of my teammates, this is our first league title, so it’s a moment we wanted to share with them.”

Let’s take a look at the 3 key players who did that bit extra in ensuring Inter became champions of Italy.

-Milan Skriniar

Milan Skriniar hasn’t always got the plaudits this season but the defender has remained consistent and very solid throughout the title winning campaign. He has amassed an impressive 71 points and been part of a defence that has helped to keep 13 clean sheets. On top of that he has been dangerous at set-pieces and has scored 3 goals this season- all important ones that changed the game.

-Achraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi really came into his own in the middle of the season and the latter stages when it really mattered. Hakimi reminds one of Roberto Carlos in that his defending was swashbuckling and determined overlayered with intelligence but he wasn’t afraid to attack either to score goals and set them up. Hakimi has been one of the best defenders in Europe this season no doubt. He has contributed to an incredible 13 goals in Serie A alone, scoring seven of them.

-Romelu Lukaku

And of course there is Romelu Lukaku who has had a glittered career and yet this is his first league title with a club. Lukaku will be a legend now with Inter fans. His runs into the opponents half, his fantastic goals and his overall contribution will live long in the memory banks. Lukaku will probably finish as runner up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal scorers charts but he has still won the most important title for sure. Lukaku has scored 21 goals and assisted in another 10 in an incredible season for him and it is fitting that he has picked up 100 points in the fantasy rankings just as Inter have won the league title.

This was a title much like Manchester City’s in the Premier League which was won in truth by the brilliant defence. Attack has been the key of course to each teams titles but the overriding factor has been how the defence has played. In the rankings for example just for Inter we can see that 5 from the top ranked 8 players are defenders and that doesn’t include goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who is currently the 3rd best ranked player in the team.

Congratulations then to Inter for a fantastic title. The season isn’t over yet though and the clubs next game will be at home to Sampdoria on Saturday.

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Inter race 11 points clear and can win Serie A title this weekend!

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The 11 year wait for Inter is almost over as they are so close now to winning the Serie A title after a stagnant decade. Antonio Conte’s team have been far the best side in the league and with 79 points they are 11 points in front of Atalanta who themselves have had a fantastic campaign.

One of the stories emerging out of this Serie A season is that Milan or even Juventus could miss out on the Champions League next season. Milan’s poor form has seen them slip to 5th and Juventus are now in 4th place. Though 3rd placed Napoli are on the same points (66) as both Juventus and Milan so it is certainly going to be a close call and should go down to the wire.

For Inter it has been a nervous month of April with each game finishing with just one goal for Conte’s team. Last weekend Inter recorded their 24th win of the season with a very narrow 1-0 victory at home over 10th placed Verona. Verona came into the game having having lost their last 3 in a row and of course Inter were the huge odds on favourites being at home.

However as it transpired this game looked to be finishing in a 0-0 stalemate before Matteo Darmian settled scores with just 14 minutes remaining of the match to get all three points for Inter in a weekend in which Juventus drew and Milan lost.

Verona made life difficult for Inter and that’s what can happen when you have nothing to play for. Verona will  be safe this season but also won’t be able to qualify for European football for next season and they actually had more goal attempts than Inter with 12 in total. Although the difference in technical quality was still telling given that Verona managed just 1 shot on target compared to Inter’s four.

Achraf Hakimi who has been so consistent this season assisted in Darmian’s goal and the player finished well to send the team into fits of joy. True the league isn’t over yet, but you take a look at the expressions of the players and coach and you knew that they knew that it was.

Inter could win the title this weekend when they play Crotone away from home. Although if they win they would still need to wait for Sunday on May 2nd to see how Atalanta perform when they play Sassuolo away from home.

Such is the excitement though that Inter owner Steven Zhang has flown in from China to witness the title celebrations. Surely if it is not this weekend it will be the next?

The Super League fallout seems to have gone quiet and Inter were one of the 12 teams who signed up to the doomed competition. Even though respective FA’s and UEFA said that teams would be punished this hasn’t been the case yet and maybe the associations will now wait until the end of the season. One of the punishments could see Inter banned from Europe for one season which would be unfortunate for them, instead they will be hoping for just a fine.

Stay tuned next weekend as we could be celebrating an historic league title for Inter.

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Inter go 11 points clear of Milan with 9 games to go

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Surely the Serie A title will be Inter’s now after they pulled 11 points clear at the top. Milan could only draw 1-1 at home to Sampdoria and Inter won at the weekend and then followed that up with their 22nd win of the season on Wednesday evening when they beat Sassuolo 2-1. Inter have won their last 10 games in a row and have simply been fantastic this season- and they will be deserved champions it seems.

Let’s take a recap on Inter’s last 2 games in the league.

This past weekend Inter played Bologna away from home in what is never an easy game for any club in the league. Bologna are in 11th place but have always made it tricky for teams visiting and they did so once again for the champions elect. In the end it took a solo effort from Romelu Lukaku to settle the game just after the half hour mark. Lukaku.

Inter were technically the better side but Bologna had their chances although they did go quieter in the 2nd half. It was Lukaku’s goal that won the game in a 1-0 win and it was Lukaku’s 20th goal of the season as he tries to catch up with Cristiano Ronaldo. It was hardly a vintage performance from Inter, but it’s all about those 3 points and they were able to achieve that at the weekend.

In midweek Inter played Sassuolo this was a game that was originally scheduled a few weeks ago but a Covid outbreak in the Inter side put paid to that and so it had to be carried over. Inter won the game 2-1 through the usual suspects of Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.

Lukaku opened the scoring after just 10 minutes after a cross by Ashley Young, Lukaku sweetly headed the ball in. It was a first half in which Inter played good football and looked like the better team and they went in 1-0 up at half time.

Inter doubled their lead half way through the second half when Lukaku broke clear and played the ball to Martinez who made no mistake in scoring his 15th league goal of the season. However just before that break Sassuolo really should have been awarded a penalty. Indeed the away side got the better of Inter in the 2nd half and were much the better side and were unlucky to have not at least drawn the game in the end, even though they were able to pull a goal back with five minutes to go.

Inter coach Antonio Conte had this to say after Inter’s latest victory, “We had to become more determined, more focused in every situation, as well as more resilient. There are games like today where we can be up against teams with no pressure and if we are more clinical, we can score five or six goals. Sassuolo kept it open to the end, even if they scored only when Milan Skriniar was off the field. I congratulate Sassuolo, as they came here to play their game and this performance shows how much we’ve grown. With this attitude, we’d still be in the Champions League.”

This weekend Inter will play 18th placed Cagliari at home and will be the favourites to win that one, although the away side are battling relegation, though they haven’t won a game in over 5 weeks.

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Inter head towards Serie A title without kicking a ball as Juventus stall

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Inter did not play at the weekend as their game with Sassuolo had to be called off because of a recent outbreak of Covid-19 within the Inter squad. After tests on Monday it was revealed that Inter now has a clean bill of health but the game had to be postponed as a measure of safety.

There would be good news and bad news for Antonio Conte’s side this week. With no game they could sit back and watch how Milan and Juventus fared, the only two clubs now who could take the Serie A title away from them.

Milan looked like they were going to draw away to Fiorentina but they won 3-2 in a thrilling game and that was the disappointing news of the weekend as Milan are now just six points behind. However of course Inter has an extra game to play. But the great news from Inter’s perspective was that Juventus lost.

It was the Old Lady’s 4th loss of the season and it was a shock as it came at home to Benevento in a game that finished 1-0. Juve had 23 goal attempts and Benevento only had 1 shot on target for the goal the whole game. Media in Italy have said that’s it for Juventus and their title chances and the club has now fallen 10 points behind Inter and played the same games.

The postponement of the Sassuolo game means that Inter will have had a 3 week break until their next game which is against Bologna away from home. Although all of Inter’s players will be involved in the up and coming international matches over the next 10 days or so.

Best performing players for Inter

Let’s take a look at the best performing players for Inter so far as they try to win an historic league title. We will look at the best positions.

Goalkeeper: Samir Handanovic 51 pts

Samir Handanovic has been the regular goal keeper and has started 27 games keeping 10 clean sheets. He has managed to keep clean sheets on 37% of his appearances so far. He is currently the number 1 ranked goalkeeper in Italy and overall ranks in at number 9 over Europe’s major leagues. Three from his last five games has seen the shot stopper keep clean sheets.

Defender: Achraf Hakimi 63pts

Hakimi is 8 points ahead of the next Inter defender Milan Skriniar. Hakimi reminds one of an all round player much like the Real Madrid great and indeed former Inter player Roberto Carlos in that he isn’t afraid to come forward and score goals. His stats are fantastic and Hakimi has been involved in 10 goals in the league so far scoring six times. His value is just 7m and he has been one of the best players in Serie A this season.

Midfielder: Nicolo Barella 38pts

For all of Inter’s greatness this season it has to be said that their midfield talent at least for obtaining points has not been their strongest. Still Nicolo Barella has had great moments this season. He isn’t ahead on the most assists but he has still set up 5 goals and he has also scored a further three. His value is 7m.

Striker: Romelu Lukaku 88pts

Some people will claim that Romelu Lukaku has stiff competition as Inter’s best striker from Lautaro Martinez but that simply isn’t true. While Martinez is a brilliant striker and will get even better at this moment Lukaku is Inter’s number 1 and there can’t be any doubts about that. Lukaku is currently 23 points ahead of Martinez and has scored 5 goals more and has 19 currently. He has also assisted in a further 8 goals and is simply having his best season as a professional player. Lukaku ranks 2nd in Italy behind Cristiano Ronaldo and overall ranks in at 4th. His value is 10.5m.

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Inter take huge step to the title after Martinez heroics and Milan loss

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It was game where Inter were clearly the superior side at the weekend, but it was game against Torino away from home that looked destined to finish 0-0. However in the second half the duel opened up and Inter ran out 2-1 winners to record their 9th win in a row and 20th overall this season.

For this game Conte switched to a 3-5-2 packing out the midfield and happy to advance Achraf Hakimi. The usual two were up front in Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez and they would once again repay their coaches’ faith.

The first half ended goalless but was still an entertaining affair and the home side were really forcing the game and controlling the pace. Indeed Inter the champions elect had zero  with 8 shots on target altogether, 4 from each side. Whilst the game was very exciting it did have a feel about it that this wasn’t going to be Inter’s day. The threat was that it could all become quite tense and a match that Inter are very capable of winning could have ended the wrong way. Torino simply were going for the win.

But in the second half everything changed dramatically and Inter were awarded a penalty. Lukaku stepped up to take it and put Inter in the lead but it was a lead that would be short-lived. Antonio Sanabria equalised for the home team just 8 minutes later and looked to have salvaged something from the game with 20 minutes left given of course that Torino are battling relegation this season.

However there would be a final sting in the tail and joy for Inter when Alexis Sanchez who has found form in the past month set up Lautaro Martinez to score what would be the winning goal of the game.

The good news continued for Antonio Conte’s side as 2nd placed Milan lost 1-0 at home to Napoli and so the gap is now 9 points. The threat is seemingly coming from Juventus who are in 3rd place and have 55 points, but a game extra over Inter, win that and they would be 7 points behind.

Fabio Capello predicts the league winners

Italian legend Fabio Capello has predicted who will win Serie A this season and he has chosen Inter. Capello said: “I have been saying it for weeks that Inter have won the championship. I have been saying this since Milan lost against Spezia and I reconfirm it today.”

All at Inter will be keeping quiet about such talk but Capello has spoken, and he is rarely wrong.

Lukaku v Ronaldo

The top goalscorer in Serie A has come down to 2 players now. The boots are off and it is Cristiano Ronaldo v Romelu Lukaku. Ronaldo has finished as top goalscorer in the Premier League and La Liga and he would love to complete a unique treble. Ronaldo was denied last season by Ciro Immobile but the Juventus forward is in the driving seat this season and at the weekend he scored a hat-trick.

Ronaldo has 23 goals so far and Lukaku is 4 behind on 19. Any one of the two really can finish as the top scorer. If Inter win the Scudetto knowing Ronaldo he would take some heart by finishing as top scorer, but with the way Inter score goals who knows who will finish on top? This is how the bookmakers see it.

Cristiano Ronaldo 1/4

Romelu Lukaku 5/2

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Inter go 7 points clear of champions Juventus with 17th win of the season

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Inter look on course to win their first league title in 11 years as they beat Genoa 3-0 at the weekend. Romelu Lukaku yet again was on hand to open up the scoring in a pretty much one sided game that they didn’t look like losing.

Inter got off to the best possible start as they were in front against Genoa within 60 seconds. Lautaro Martinez set up Lukaku who still had plenty of work to do but he lashed his shot into the net, and it was a superb goal to get the game going.

Matteo Darmian and Nicolo Barella had chances to double the lead in the first half and Barella’s chance came off the cross bar. But the first half would end 1-0 to the home side. Inter had dominated the first half and had 7 shots on target to Genoa’s two and they look hungry for more goals too.

Goals did follow in the 2nd half and this time Darmian made no mistakes as he was set up by Lukaku and just past the hour mark it was 2-0 to Inter and there was no coming back from that by the away side.

A few minutes later Alexis Sanchez made it 3-0 and it was game over. Although not before a VAR review but thankfully the goal stood. Inter are 4 points clear at the top after Milan also won at the weekend. But the big news was that Juventus had their game in hand in midweek and they could only draw 1-1 at Verona. They followed that up yesterday by beating Spezia 3-0 but the old lady are now seven points behind Inter and have now played the same games. One has to wonder if Juventus’ domination of the league is over?

Inter’s top scorer Romelu Lukaku had this to say after the game: We faced some defeats in these kind of games last season and we want to improve. I am really happy with the victory. Now we must focus on Parma, it’s not going to be an easy game. We want to show our opponents that we are here. We must focus on one game at a time. It was an important match after two back to back victories. We scored three goals and kept a clean sheet, perfect.”

Pirelli waving goodbye

In other news Pirelli the infamous shirt sponsors of Inter will be no more. With talk of Inter being sold in the summer and negotiations taking place it has been confirmed that the club will have different shirt sponsors from next season. Pirelli has had a strong association with Inter and they have been their official shirt sponsor for the past 27 years.

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Antonio Conte finds the winning formula with Inter

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It may have taken Antonio Conte two seasons at Inter, but the veteran tactician appears to have found the winning formula in Milano. The Nerazzurri have been in emphatic form in recent months and have since run away as title favorites. With both Milan and Juventus struggling for form, Inter is now well on its way to its first Scudetto in 11 years – but how have they got here?

Initially, Inter sporting director Giuseppe Marotta backed his manager heavily in the transfer window. The likes of Nicolo Barella, Romelu Lukaku, and Achraf Hakimi were all brought in and remain crucial pieces to the puzzle. That being said, it still takes a manager to put it all together.

Conte has toiled with a number of different lineups and setups before finally establishing his winning formula. The veteran tactician has since gone with Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni, and Milan Skriniar at the back, offering the side some much-needed stability. The trio possesses an interesting blend of experience and youth and are all capable of playing from out from the back.

Beyond its staunch backline, Inter boasts one of Italy’s best midfield units. Conte has a number of options on the bench including Stefano Sensi and Arturo Vidal but appears to have finally decided on his best lineup. The former Azzurri boss deploys Marcelo Brozovic from the deepest role and flanks him with Christian Eriksen and Nicolo Barella.

The former was almost on his way out in January but has since undergone a resurgence of sorts. Eriksen has played a crucial role for Inter in recent weeks, adding creativity between the lines. Brozovic is tasked with sitting back and dictating the tempo, while Barella is Inter’s all-action midfielder. The former Cagliari man is a constant menace in the final third and is always looking to combine dangerously with Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi.

Moving forward to the attack. Inter’s one-two punch of Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez is among the very best in football. The Belgian international has taken his game to another level under Conte and enters the final stretch of the season in sensational form. Martinez, on the other hand, is arguably playing the best football of his young career, stringing together a number of positive outings together since the turn of the new year. The duo possesses the necessary speed, power, and skill to unlock any defence and could very well prove to be the difference for Inter.

An article on Conte’s Inter would not be complete with a brief discussion on the wingbacks. Hakimi marauds the right flank at will, tormenting defenders, while Perisic’s improvement as a left wingback has been notable. Both wingbacks offer Inter the stability and creativity they need from the wide areas.

With Juventus in a transition season, the title is very much Inter’s for the taking. The Nerazzurri have been the best side in Italy this season and have shown no signs of slowing down. When Inter initially brought Conte in, the goal was to dethrone Juventus. With just 14 games left, the Italian tactician is set to deliver.

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Top Three Surprises: Serie A 2020-2021

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As is the case any season, Serie A has been chock full of surprises this year, with a number of players breaking onto the scene. Whether it is a budding young talent making a name for himself, or a team punching above their weight, Italian football has not been short on surprising storylines this season.

Without further ado, let’s take a deeper look and break down the most intriguing happenings of what has been a crazy year thus far:

1) Cagliari are…bad? 

When the Sardinian outfit appointed Eusebio Di Francesco this past summer, Cagliari was expected to take the leap in quality. The Italian tactician went into the job with an impressive resume – despite his failures with Roma. His fluid 4-3-3 was supposed to be a perfect fit with Cagliari’s talented roster. Today, the club is on the brink of relegation, sitting five points adrift safety, while Di Francesco has since been sacked.

Cagliari added Diego Godin to its ranks this past summer, adding some much-needed depth at the back. The arrivals of Radja Nainggolan and Daniele Rugani were supposed to steady the ship in January after a rocky start to the campaign, but nothing of the sort has happened.

The club’s only consistent performer remains Joao Pedro, who has led the charge with 11 goals. Giovanni Simeone has struggled for form himself, last finding the back of the net in October. Simply put, a side that boasts their talent – including a midfield three of Nandez, Nainggolan, and Rog – has no business near the relegation zone. If Cagliari cannot turn it around, they might just be the most talented team to go down in recent history.

2) Davide Ballardini might know a thing or two about calcio. 

David Ballardini has regularly been used as a stop-gap option for clubs facing relegation. Naturally, when Genoa had a bumpy start to the new year, the veteran tactician was brought in, kicking off his fourth spell with the club. As was the case in the past, expectations were low.

After all, Genoa’s roster has little quality across the board after notable departures year after year. What has transpired over the last months in Liguria has been nothing short of a total shock. I Grifoni are currently among Italy’s most in-form sides and have since pulled themselves out of the relegation zone.

Led by Ballardini, Genoa has lost just once in their last 10 games and is currently riding a seven-game unbeaten run. After bouncing around calcio’s lower tiers, it appears Ballardini has finally found a place to (temporarily) call home, even if it took him four spells. You can never get too comfortable with Enrico Preziosi at the helm.

3) Is Nicolo Barella Italy’s best midfielder? 

If the past season showed us anything, it is that before this year, Nicolo Barella was severely underappreciated. The Italian international has been the catalyst behind Inter’s title charge, pulling all the right strings in the middle of the park. Operating on the right-hand side of a midfield three, Barella has formed a deadly partnership with Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku.

The former Cagliari captain has taken his game to the next level, which begs the question: Is he currently Italy’s best midfielder? Marco Verratti might have something to say about that, but the PSG man has never been able to translate his impressive exploits to the national team.

Beyond his great play, Barella has demonstrated he is ready to be a leader, constantly barking out orders on the pitch. Led by a former midfield dynamo in Antonio Conte, Barella has the perfect role model on the sidelines, helping him mould his game accordingly. Is Barella the first name on Roberto Mancini’s team-sheet? I’ll let you decide.

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Lautaro Martinez the hero as Inter beat rivals Milan to go 4 points clear at the top of Serie A

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What a moment this is for Inter who were already on top of Serie A before they played their city rivals Milan in the derby. But after a fantastic and dominating 3-0 victory over the Rossonieri they are now 4 points clear at the top and the clear favourites to win their first Scudetto in 11 years.

Lautaro Martinez who has perhaps played second fiddle but also teamed up so well with his strike partner Romelu Lukaku was brilliant. The 23 year old Argentinian rose to the huge occasion in style and scored the opening two goals. Martinez now has 13 goals this season.

Milan’s form has been in trouble for the last few weeks where they haven’t looked as dominant as they were before and the writing looked on the wall at San Siro as Inter took the lead after just 5 minutes. Lukaku lobbed the ball well and his clever pass found the head of Martinez who made no mistakes to put Inter in front.

There were good chances  for both clubs in the first half and apart from the goal one could say that this was an equal half. Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not have agreed with that though and the Swede did have a couple of good chances to grab a goal back for the designated home side.

If Milan thought they were in the game because the half time score was only 1-0 then a poor 10 minute spell in the second sealed the clubs fate. It was Martinez again just before the hour mark. He received a ball from Ivan Perisic and Martinez at close range was in the right place at the right time to double Inter’s lead.

At this point Milan were still in shock when Lukaku, Inter’s top goalscorer, made it 3-0 after a mazy run. Lukaku who has called this season his best yet as a footballer was absolutely delighted. If Inter were going to beat Milan and confirm their greatest you get the feeling that Lukaku wanted to score in that game.

Much was said of course about the teams last meeting when Lukaku and Ibrahimovic clashed. Thankfully there would be no repeat of that but Lukaku did his speaking on the pitch and he will be very satisfied with that.

In fairness Milan didn’t play too bad and created many chances in the second half but those two quick goals killed off the game for them. Their title chances aren’t over yet of course and it will only take a slip up from Inter to let them back in. Juventus will also have a chance to win their 10th league title as they watch from the wings. It is sure to be an exciting finish this season, but for now with 15 games left to play Inter has taken control of the league.

Inter coach Antonio Conte was full of praise for his team and very proud after the game. He said: “My players deserve the praise it was a well-prepared game they were the absolute protagonists on the pitch. It was a nice game, it was a derby with a lot of pressure because both teams are up there in the table. I’m happy because we prepared the game well. We were good to make the most of the opportunities against a strong team.”

Inter will play Genoa next and although they will be the favourites to win the game, that is the type of fixture that could be a banana skin. What is sure about this season is that it is looking like it will be one of the best in years with 3 teams able to challenge for the title.

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Inter storm to the top of Serie A after win over Lazio as Milan collapse against Spezia

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Finally it has happened for Inter and Antonio Conte, they are in 1st place in Serie A with 16 games to go as they convincingly beat a strong rival in Lazio 3-1.

Inter had been on the tails of their eternal rivals Milan for the majority of the season and it will be a fantastic feeling to know that they are now kings of the hill so to speak. Milan were outclassed against lowly Spezia losing that game 2-0 in what was seen as a surprise result but Milan were never really in the game.

Inter and Lazio is always a big game and Lazio themselves have had a decent season and even after this defeat are only 2 points from a Champions League place. Inter knew this would be a hard game but Conte’s team dominated play from the first whistle and looked ultra confident throughout their play.

Inter took the lead when Lazio’s Wesley Hoedt committed a foul in the area and the referee pointed to the spot and Hoedt was quickly booked for his actions. Romelu Lukaku stepped up and made no mistakes shooting past Pepe Reina in goal. It was just the right start that the home side needed.

Lukaku made it 2-0 just minutes before half time but not before a VAR review and the goal was in the balance because of Lukaku’s position, the question was did the pass he receive come from his Inter team mate? If so the goal wouldn’t have stood but Lukaku rightly pointed out that the ball had indeed come off of an Lazio defender and the goal stood.

Just after the hour mark Inter were not cruising the game anymore when Lazio struck back after a free kick. The actual free kick was not the problem as the ball was going wide but the ball deflected from Lazio player Gonzalo Escalante and into the net. It was a lucky goal but all of a sudden Inter could feel the pressure at 2-1. It wouldn’t last.

Just three minutes later Inter scored a brilliant goal which would finish the game. Lukaku collected the ball down the right wing and with blistering pace just went past players like they were not there, he squared the ball to an unmarked Lautaro Martinez who scored his 11th goal of the season. The scenes of celebration were wild as the players along with manager Conte embraced.

Even though there was still thirty minutes to play Inter knew they had won this game and indeed it finished 3-1. Inter go top although only by 1 point and there is all to play for. Inter’s next game is against, wait for it…. Milan on Sunday. What a match that will prove to be 1st v 2nd.

Martinez the boy wonder staying with Inter for now

Lautaro Martinez has been brilliant for Inter and has scored 11 goals so far in the league and assisted in another 4 goals. All eyes are on the striker but he is set to stay at Inter, much to the relief of the fans. Martinez is expected to sign a new 3 year contract which would tie him to Inter until June 2024.

Lukaku the 2nd best striker in Europe in the fantasy rankings

The fantasy rankings has Romelu Lukaku as the 2nd best striker in Europe and the Belgian currently has 68 points and has scored 16 goals. He is only 5 points behind the number 1 striker which is currently Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Kane has scored 13 goals so far but has assisted in another 11. Making up the rest of the top 5 are Cristiano Ronaldo, Heung-Min Son and Luis Suarez.

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