Inter Milan also made a strong start to this Coppa Italia season, crushing the vastly inferior FC Venice—the only remaining Serie B representative in the competition—5-1.
As usual, the top teams from last season did not enter the Coppa Italia until the round of 16 with home games – starting with Juventus (2-0 against Udinese Calcio), Atalanta Bergamo (4-0 against CFC Genoa) and Napoli (9-8 on penalties against Cagliari). The action continued with Inter Milan’s appearance at their home stadium, the Giuseppe Meazza, against FC Venezia. The Venetians, who were the last Serie B team in this round of 16, had even replaced their entire starting eleven from their recent 3-0 win against Mantova. Meanwhile, at FC Internazionale, former Cologne player Bisseck was given a starting spot after the 2-0 win over Pisa the previous weekend.
A quiet start – and a quick double strike
However, the many changes took their toll immediately, with the lack of coordination on both sides being particularly noticeable. With Venice sitting very deep, the clear favorites found it difficult to create any real danger. It was not until the 8th minute that Sucic made his presence felt, but he was blocked by Korac. After that, however, the pressure grew and grew.
After Frattesi hit the side netting in the 16th minute, the lead finally came. Frattesi found the unmarked Diouf, and the summer signing from Lens made it 1-0 in the 18th minute, finding himself one-on-one with visiting keeper Grandi. Shortly afterwards, striker Pio Esposito thundered a great volley into the bottom right corner (20′). Suddenly, the Nerazzurri were 2-0 up after a modest start. When Thuram, the former Gladbach player, ended a long dry spell by scoring in the 34th minute, the game was already over.
Thuram times two
However, the home side from Lombardy did not let up, with Thuram scoring twice after the break. The Frenchman finished off some great work from substitute Mkhitaryan and Frattesi with a flying header to make it 4-0 (51′). Striker Pio Esposito also had a chance to make it 5-0, but Venice goalkeeper Grandi stood in his way (56′).
When the Venetians scored a lucky consolation goal to make it 1-4 (66′), Diouf was also left frustrated. His potential second goal to make it 5-1 was cleared off the line by the visitors, with defender Venturi clearing with his heel (69′). In addition, Mkhitaryan, running unmarked, fired a low shot just wide of the right post (74′). However, in the 75th minute, after a cross from Bisseck and a header from Mkhitaryan, the score became 5-1 thanks to a great first-time shot from substitute Bonny, who found the top right corner.
The score remained the same, with a nice anecdote to finish. Because Pio Esposito had celebrated his goal to make it 2-0 with tense upper arm muscles, the striker was humorously greeted with the same gesture by many of his teammates after he was substituted in the closing stages, including keeper Sommer, Akanji, and Calhanoglu.
