Finale collapse

Simon Basten

Apr 30, 2023

3 min read

2022-23 Season

Game 32, Serie A

Sunday, April 30, 2023

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Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan

Inter Lazio 3-1

Lazio collapse in the last twenty minutes and leave the three points to Inter

The team

Maurizio Sarri was without too many problems and Ciro Immobile was back in the attack from the start. Difficult game against Inter, lots of former players on both sides – Francesco Acerbi, Stefan de Vrij, Joaquin Correa, Simone Inzaghi and his staff, Matias Vecino – and after the draw between Milan and Roma, Inter by winning had a chance to join them on 57 points.

The match

Only two things happened in the first 30 minutes. In the 5th Marcelo Brozovic shot from outside the box, Ivan Provedel parried, ball to Federico Dimarco but the Lazio goalkeeper saved again. In the 25th minute Inter scored with Henrikh Mkhitaryan but Correa, who provided the assist, was offside. The game was pretty boring, Lazio at first tried to control it but then left the initiative to Inter.

The game changer arrived in the 30th minute. Acerbi lost the ball near the Inter box, Felipe Anderson to Immobile back to the Brazilian who passed the ball to Luis Alberto. The Spaniard faked a shot but then passed to Felipetto, 1-0 for Lazio.

Inter attacked and had two shots that went very close, with Mkhitaryan in the 37th minute and Nicolò Barella in the 40th. In the first minute of injury time, Acerbi slipped, double one-two Immobile-Mattia Zaccagni, King Ciro shot, Andre Onana saved and Felipe Anderson’s tap-in was deflected into corner by Alessandro Bastoni. The half ended on an Alessio Romagnoli header comfortably saved by the Inter goalkeeper.

Second half

Inzaghi threw in Denzel Dumfries for Danilo D’Ambrosio during the interval and Lazio were forced to substitute injured Danilo Cataldi with Vecino in the 51st minute. Barella had a chance in the 55th but his volley off a Dimarco assist was just wide. In the 59th, Felipe Anderson into the box for Luis Alberto who instead of giving the ball a big whack, literally passed the ball to Onana.

At this point in came the big guns Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu and out went Correa (booed by the home crowd) and Mkhitaryan. It was the 61st minute.

Inter started to apply huge pressure on Lazio and the light went out in the Biancocelesti's heads. In the 65th minute Calhanoglu to Dimarco in the box, Provedel was miraculous. A minute later Romelu Lukaku on the right sent in a low cross for Dumfries unmarked on the other side. Open goal chance but the Dutchman decided to use his wrong foot and could not make decent contact.

In the 67th minute Pedro came in for Ciro Immobile and in the 70th Robin Gosens replaced Bastoni. In the 78th minute Inter equalised. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic passed the ball to Pedro but it was imprecise, Gosens to Lukaku with his back to the goal. The big Belgian turned around and passed to the upcoming Lautaro, Inter 1 Lazio 1.

The newcomers had made a difference, together with an increased intensity and an unstoppable Lukaku. Lazio disappeared and Inter scored again. In the 83rd minute Lukaku on the right just inside the box looked as if he was going to shoot but then saw Gosens on the other side completely unmarked. High ball over the Lazio defence, Provedel could do nothing to stop the German’s volley.

In the 86th minute de Vrij came in for Gosens and Sarri changed Adam Marusic and Elseid Hysaj with Manuel Lazzari and Luca Pellegrini. In the 90th minute Vecino passed the ball back to Provedel, Lautaro intercepted and scores Inter’s third.

Game over. Lazio came up short just when it was time to harvest. They still had a four-point lead over Milan, Roma and Inter, but got to win the next game.

Who played for Inter

Onana, D’ Ambrosio (46` Dumfires), Acerbi, Bastoni (71` Gosens, 86` De Vrji), Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan (61`Calhanoglu), Dimarco, Lukaku, Correa (61` Lautaro Martinez)

Substitutes: Handanovic, Cordaz, Gagliardini, Calhanoglu, Dzeko, Bellanova, Asllani

Manager: Inzaghi

Who played for Lazio

Provedel, Marusic (86` Lazzari), Casale, Romagnoli, Hysaj (86` Pellegrini), Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi (51` Vecino), Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson, Immobile (68` Pedro), Zaccagni