Inter got off lightly in Verona, with an own goal in stoppage time securing victory for the Nerazzurri. Zielinski’s dream goal and a controversial decision involving DFB player Bisseck provided plenty of talking points.
Hellas Verona not only has to wait longer for its first league win of the season, but the home side was also denied a respectable result. Against Inter, who fielded Luis Henrique, Zielinski, Carlos Augusto, and Bonny in place of Dimarco, Barella, Dumfries, and Esposito compared to their 3-0 win over Florence, the underdogs were quickly forced onto the defensive. The Nerazzurri, who were clearly dominant on the pitch, made their mark in the 8th minute when Lautaro Martinez lobbed the ball over keeper Montipo, but Nelsson scraped it off the line at the expense of crashing into the post.
In the 16th minute, the ball finally found its way into the Hellas goal – and how! Calhanoglu crossed from the left to Zielinski on the edge of the box, who volleyed the ball with the inside of his foot from 16 meters and sank it into the top left corner. It was a dream goal reminiscent of Lothar Matthäus’ goal of the year in 1992 in the 4-2 win in Leverkusen, although Matthäus, who had recently moved from Inter to Munich, had been further away and scored with a full-blooded strike.
In the rain in Verona, however, Inter took their foot off the gas after their brilliant start and failed to press home their advantage after Hellas (with Bella-Kotchap and without the knee-injured Suat Serdar) had created a few half-chances. That would ultimately come back to haunt them: Orban played Giovane in on the right during a counterattack, and his shot from 13 meters out found the far corner. Sommer got his fingertips to it. The 1-1 score did not prompt Inter to reflect on their performance—in fact, Verona almost took the lead. The impressive Orban hit the post with a low shot just before the half-time whistle.
Bisseck sees “only” yellow – own goal saves Inter
Verona continued their performance after the restart, so Inter coach Cristian Chivu’s triple substitution in the 55th minute came as no surprise. Inter regained dominance with Dumfries & Co., but remained largely harmless – and were lucky in the 66th minute that Bisseck did not see red. Sucic had put him in trouble with a disastrous cross-field pass. Giovane intervened, and the German international tackled the Hellas striker at the halfway line. Since Giovane had played the ball towards the corner flag and would probably not have reached it, the referee settled for a yellow card. A controversial decision. Hellas then limited themselves to defensive work, and did so successfully for a long time. The pressing Inter sent aimless crosses into the penalty area, creating little to no goal threat. In the six minutes of added time, Hellas substitute Niasse even had a great chance on the counterattack, but his shot from a great position was blocked by Bisseck. Shortly afterwards, Esposito appealed in vain for a penalty after being pulled back by Bella-Kotchap in the penalty area.
The fact that Inter still won the game was as flattering as it was fortunate. Barella, once again lacking ideas, sent a cross into the box from the halfway line, and Frese, under slight pressure from Frattesi, put the ball into his own net (90+3). It was the knockout blow for Verona, who would have deserved at least a point.
