August 28, (THEWILL) – In life after the exits of Antonio Conte, their title-winning manager, and Romelu Lukaku, their prolific striker, Italian champions Inter Milan, showed they were still very much favourites for the Scudetto and were laserInter-focused on defending their title when they came from a goal down to secure a late 3-1 victory at Verona on Friday.
In the Match Day Two fixture at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, Inter’s Joaquin Correa’s towering header and late strike were exactly what the champions needed to temper their frustrations of being level until seven minutes from time as Hellas Verona made sure they were made to work for victory.
The hosts opened the scoring after only a quarter of an hour played. Inter’s keeper Samir Handanovic was partly responsible for the goal. Under no pressure, he put out a poor pass to Marcelo Brozovic but Ivan Ilic pinched the ball away from the midfielder and lobbed it over Handanovic to score against the run of play.
Inter’s initial momentum, that was on display when Lautaro Martinez almost broke the deadlock, was lost after they went behind while Verona played with a renewed confidence. Even when Inter advanced with the ball, there was an uncharacteristic lack of ideas in their attack.
When play resumed after the break, Inter drew level quickly. New forward Edin Dzeko flicked on Ivan Perisic’s long throw for Lautaro Martinez to head home unmarked from six yards out to put the visitors back on equal footing and open up the game for more goals.
Yet, goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo was prepared to not allow that happen as he remained resolute in the Verona goal. He made a decent number of saves to hold the level score until Correa, Inter’s recent loan signing from Lazio, nodded in Matteo Darmian’s right-wing cross, just nine minutes after coming on for Martinez.
Correa’s sensational debut became even more so in injury-time, after he lashed home from the edge of the box to completely seal the three points for the defending champions and for Simone Inzaghi’s charges. What looked unlikely before the 83rd minute was turned around by Correa’s brace.
It might be early days and Correa still has a lot of work to do to be viewed as the natural successor of Lukaku, but on the night the anxiety of an early drop of points was extinguished by the brilliant decision to substitute Martinez and the remarkable display that Correa put up in his short time on the pitch to both give Inter victory and announce himself to the Inter faithful.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
