Inter Milan gave their best performance of the season, climbing to the summit of the Serie A with an impressive performance against newcomers, Frosinone.
How did both teams enter the tie?
The newly promoted side had a very poor start in their first ever season in Serie A - losing their first four games - but then Roberto Stellone's side started a solid recovery earning a point against the four time defending champions Juventus. They have three wins already and despite still being in a relegation place, they’re only two points behind Bologna and five above Hellas Verona and Carpi.
Inter arrived to this match with the opportunity of securing the first place after joint leaders Fiorentina only got a draw at home against Empoli. AS Roma’s draw against Bologna meant that the only direct rival for the first position to win this matchday was Napoli that beat Hellas Verona 2-0 away. The Partenopei themselves are the next rivals of the Nerazzurri next weekend in what promises to be a crucial battle for the scudetto this season.
Inter had a very strong start to the campaign winning the first five games, but all of them by minimum margin and in four of them, scoring only one goal.
The Nerazzurri then failed to get a victory in the following four games, and suffered a crushing defeat at home in the hands of Fiorentina. That poor spell started the talks of a “crisis” in Roberto Mancini’s team, but since then they responded very strongly with three straight victories, one of them against a direct rival like Roma. Nonetheless all those victories were with the same score of 1-0 again, so there were still doubts over the offensive quality of the team. Those were shattered today with a stunning display against Frosinone at the San Siro.
A poor opening period for Inter despite goal
Frosinone started strongly, generating some clear scoring opportunities and forcing Samir Handanovic to come up with some impressive saves, particularly against Danilo Soddimo who struck a stunning left-footed volley.
Inter started a bit poorly, with their attempts on goal being mainly long range efforts and their defence not being as strong as usual. Inter started changing the game in their favour slowly, finally opening the score in the 29th minute after a shot from outside the box by Adem Ljajic was stopped by Nicola Leali which saw Jonathan Babiany meet the ball with a fantastic volley on the rebound. After that the Nerazzurri got more comfortable and started dominating the game without suffering much.
A dominating half for Inter
Soon in the second-half, Mauro Icardi scored after a great combination with Ljajic. This was only the second time in the season that Inter were able to score twice in the same game, and just Icardi’s fourth goal this season, after being Capocannoniere the past campaign with 22 goals.
Frosinone started attacking more recklessly, leaving spaces at the back, but failed to create any concrete chances while Inter had several opportunities to score a third but were poor in front of goal.
Only in the 87th minute the Nerazzurri were able to finally sentence the game when Jeison Murillo scored with a striker-like finish after a great collective play. In the dying minutes of extra-time Marcelo Brozovic scored after a great assist from Ljajic, who was the man of the match in what was easily the best performance from Inter this season.
What next for Inter and Frosinone?
Frosinone will play Hellas at home in what is a game that may end up being very important in the relegation battle as they are sitting now at 18th and 19th position, although Frosinone has a five point difference with their future rivals.
Inter will also have a crucial game as they’ll be visiting Napoli at the San Paolo. The hosts are unbeaten in their last 11 games and only two points behind the current leaders.