Mueez Ajao
– Inter march on towards the Scudetto with a third consecutive victory thanks to Marcelo Brozovic, Lautaro Martinez and Alexis Sanchez goals to conquer Spezia.
– The Nerazzurri were within two points of leaders Milan and had a game in hand, but lost Stefan de Vrij to injury and rotated ahead of the Coppa Italia semi-final. Leo Sena was the only Spezia absentee and ex-Inter youth product Rey Manaj took centre-stage for coach Thiago Motta, who was in the Treble-winning side of 2010.
– Samir Handanovic had to rush off his line in the opening six minutes to close down Emmanuel Gyasi after an Ivan Perisic error, while Edin Dzeko clipped the upright only after fouling his marker.
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– Hakan Calhanoglu’s long-range strike dipped just over the bar and Marcelo Brozovic made a decisive block to prevent Viktor Kovalenko’s tap-in on a corner.
– Arkadiusz Reca went off injured and Tucu Correa had two attempts charged down in a couple of seconds.
– Kevin Agudelo came on at half-time and within 17 seconds had burst into the box, forcing a desperate block at the near post from Milan Skriniar. Moments later, Martin Erlic’s glancing header on the corner skimmed the far stick.
– Inter wasted a golden opportunity for 2-0 when Calhanoglu pulled back from the by-line, but Perisic mis-kicked from eight yards and at the same time stole the chance off Dzeko, who was absolutely furious with his teammate.
– This second half was end-to-end, as then Simone Bastoni rolled across the face of goal with nobody able to get the tap-in.
– There was a truly bizarre incident, as M’Bala Nzola came on as a substitute, was told to take off his earring, then after 10 minutes of trying and failing to do so on the touchline, he gave up and had to be replaced, using up Spezia’s final substitution slot.
– Barella then fired wide on a Calhanoglu assist, but after two very close calls, substitute Lautaro Martinez got Inter’s second goal. It was another Perisic assist, this time cutting inside to strike it low and Lautaro with his back to goal stuck out a leg to flick it into the far bottom corner.
– Ivan Provedel kept out Alexis Sanchez after a strong run, but Giulio Maggiore got one back for Spezia with a splendid right-foot strike int the far top corner from the edge of the box, simply impossible for Handanovic to reach.
– Alexis Sanchez’s effort dipped just over the bar, then he got the third in stoppages. The Chilean was brought down in midfield, but the referee played the advantage, he got back on his feet and was ready to meet the Lautaro Martinez roll across.
