In a surprising turn, the first opportunity goes to the gialloblù: a central shot from Bonny is met by Sommer, who makes a crucial save. Thuram responds, and at the 14th minute, the nerazzurri take the lead. Hernani makes an error, allowing Dimarco to assist Darmian, who delivers a precise shot to make it 1-0. Sommer denies Dennis Man the equalizer, while Suzuki saves a chance from Lautaro Martinez, keeping the score unchanged.
In the following minutes, the tempo slows down after a frenetic start, only to pick up again towards the end. Inter nearly doubles the lead with attempts from Calhanoglu and Lautaro, and they succeed in the 45th minute with a chaotic play: following an assist from Mkhitaryan, Thuram mishits the shot but gets lucky with a rebound, scoring to make it 2-0.
The expressions on both father Lilian and the forward himself perfectly capture the moment, as the trajectory that deceives Suzuki and the returning Almqvist was far from intentional: a double lead for Inter at halftime. The second half starts without Bastoni, sitting on the bench with ice on his knee as a precaution due to several knocks in the first half, with the looming match against Bayern.
The second half kicks off with a flurry of substitutions for Chivu, who pairs Pellegrino with Bonny and shifts to a 3-4-1-2 formation with Ondrejka in a central role. Adrian Bernabé also enters the fray and, at the 60th minute, brings his team back into the game just as the nerazzurri begin to manage their lead for the Champions. A remarkable play by the gialloblù sees Bonny set up the Spaniard, who fires a shot from outside the box, scoring his first Serie A goal as an ex-ManCity player.
Sommer prevents Ondrejka from equalizing, and Farris starts making substitutions: Zalewski, Frattesi, and Correa come on, while Lautaro is taken off after 65 minutes. This move backfires on Inter, who fail to show up in the second half and concede an equalizer: Ondrejka dribbles past several defenders, and thanks to a deflection off Darmian, he scores the equalizer at 2-2 in the 69th minute. Parma even has a chance to win: Mkhitaryan slips, leading to a rapid counterattack and a crossbar hit by Pellegrino in the 91st minute.
Inter tries to push again during the extended stoppage time, with Acerbi acting as an additional striker, but they cannot break through. The match ends in a 2-2 draw at the Tardini, leaving Inter just 4 points ahead of Napoli: Conte could move to within 1 point on Monday by beating Bologna. Meanwhile, Chivu smiles as he goes 4 points clear of Empoli, who sit third from last. A crucial point for the ducali.
– photo IPA Agency –
