The Argentine seals the victory and follows up on Milan’s win yesterday. With Roma and Napoli set to face off tonight at the Olimpico, the Nerazzurri are now one point behind first place
You could say it was Pio’s left foot, but it was also his determination, his hunger, and his cunning in winning the ball back on a throw-in with his first touch and feeding it to the number 10 striker. Captain Lautaro took care of the rest: after bringing down “Fort Pisa” with a left-footed shot into the top corner, he was embraced by the Curva and then added a second goal. Inter scored two goals against Gilardino’s men—who stayed in the game for seventy minutes, heads held high—and returned to winning ways after two consecutive losses. Not an 8-out-of-10 performance, but still solid and shrewd. Enough to chase away those ghosts that had returned to hover menacingly.
THE GOALS: LAUTARO SCORES TWICE – The spotlight on the first goal goes straight to Esposito, who had just come on. The Italian international, lurking like a hawk near the touchline, pounced on Pisa during the throw-in, stealing the ball from Aebischer. Zielinski recovered it and played it to Pio on the left, who found Lautaro in the middle. His goal was a work of art: a left-footed shot into the top corner (69′). For the second goal, some credit goes to Diouf. The Frenchman started the play by finding Barella, who did well to provide Lautaro with the easiest of assists (83′). It was his tenth goal of the season, his sixth in Serie A. As of today, he is the league’s leading scorer.
THE KEY: PRESSURE – It wasn’t a brilliant performance by Inter. For one and a half halves, Chivu’s men struggled to break down Gila’s five-man line (a three-man midfield plus two others, a rock-solid defense featuring Albiol, Caracciolo, and Canestrelli). Luis Henrique, starting on the road as Chivu prefers, had yet another off game from the very first minute. One wonders why he doesn’t take on defenders, doesn’t dribble, and always plays the ball backward. In the 20th minute, for example, he set up Pisa’s attack by misplaying a simple pass. Acerbi was also just so-so, struggling against Pisa’s forwards, and finally Sucic, who was substituted at the end of the first half. Inter found their footing with Zielinski. Diouf, who came on in the second half, also played well. After two lackluster performances, the Frenchman even delivered a nice ball to Lautaro following a run down the right (the post denied him a hat trick).
THE HEART OF PISA – Pisa has three towers. Gilardino’s game plan is simple: long passes are always aimed at the two strikers up front, Nzola and Meister, who are ready to take hits, hold onto the ball, and distribute it to the wings, while also breaking away at speed. Acerbi, in fact, their designated marker, struggled on a couple of occasions and even picked up a yellow card in the first half. At the half-hour mark, Piccinini, off a header from Traoré, took advantage of a small opening left ajar by the Azzurri center back to burst through unchallenged: his right-footed shot went just wide. Pisa, galvanized by a six-game unbeaten streak—including three clean sheets—tried to lock down the Arena like Fort Knox. It took the attackers 70 minutes to break down the defense. Gila’s most dangerous player was No. 9 Meister—a player who, until three years ago, was playing in the Danish fourth division—who gave Acerbi a run for his money, forcing him to work overtime: in the 50th minute, he saved Inter by beating Meister to the ball, then thanked Nzola for shooting wide in front of Sommer. Good at getting open, not so good at finishing.
FROM THE BALCONIES – The Arena Garibaldi is one of those places that could fall under the category of “real soccer.” Nestled among the buildings, seven hundred meters from Piazza dei Miracoli and the famous Tower, it gives those living next to the stadium the chance to watch the game from their balcony or rooftop. Just like in Castellammare di Stabia or other little spots scattered throughout Italy. Today they saw a world champion—Lautaro—score two goals. But they also saw a courageous Pisa side. Not bad.
