Inter Milan finished the first half of the Serie A season at the top of the table. However, during their away game in Parma, the dominant Nerazzurri had to juggle between bad luck and good fortune before finally thanking Dimarco.
Around the turn of the year, Inter Milan had settled comfortably at the top of the Italian top flight. That didn’t change on the 19th matchday of Serie A. Coach Cristian Chivu’s men won 1-0 in Parma, the city of ham and cheese.
On the one hand, it was a clear hard-fought victory, but on the other, it was also a well-deserved success with some tense moments in between.
Crossbar, crossbar, crossbar, inside post – and goal
The Nerazzurri, who had given the lanky Esposito the nod ahead of Thuram and Bonny to partner leader Lautaro Martinez up front, got off to a flying start with Bisseck almost putting them ahead early on. However, the former Cologne native failed to convert his direct shot in the 14th minute, thanks to a great save by Corvi and the crossbar, where the ball ultimately ended up. Shortly afterwards, Lautaro also fired over the opponent’s goal (17′).
The truth was, however, that the favorites were generally struggling. Parma were compact defensively, did well at times, and suddenly made their own claim in the 29th minute. Ondrejka’s volley, however, hit the right corner of the goal (29′). FC Internazionale was very lucky, only to experience more bad luck just three minutes later. Striker Esposito hit the crossbar with a direct shot (32′).
So, the ball had already hit the woodwork three times at this point in the game. The fourth goal came in the 42nd minute, but this time Inter got lucky: Dimarco, who played for Parma between 2018 and 2019, broke through on the left and scored from a very acute angle with the help of the left post. The referees initially ruled offside, but VAR overturned the decision after checking the footage – 1-0 to Inter (42′). Corvi in the underdog’s goal did not look his best.
Bonny unlucky, Thuram clinical
The hosts had nothing to offer in terms of offensive power in the second half either. As a result, Milan had no trouble managing their narrow lead with their usual solid defense—and that’s exactly what they did. In between, Sucic missed a sure 2-0 lead (68′) when he found himself alone in front of the opponent’s goal, while Bonny, who only moved from Parma to Milan in the summer, scored in stoppage time – but after a VAR check and a handball by Thuram, his already respectful celebration against his former club turned to disappointment (90+7).
However, the connections between Parma and Milan were not quite over yet: With the clock running down, Parma-born Thuram was sent through by Barella, and the former Gladbach player kept his cool in front of goalkeeper Corvi. FC Internazionale thus secured a confident 2-0 victory, celebrating their sixth league win in a row and defending their place at the top of the table at the end of the first half of the Serie A season.
The action continues on Sunday with a big match against the reigning champions from Naples, who, even before Milan’s victory, had only managed a 2-2 draw after trailing 0-2 against underdogs Hellas and thus slipped up.
