Rafael Leao – Lautaro Martinez (photo Lapresse)
Lautaro Show at Arechi, Salernitana-Inter 0-4
Lautaro show at the Arechi and Inter beat Salernitana by four goals in the match valid for the seventh day of the Serie A football championship. At the start, Inter coach Simone Inzaghi chooses a massive turnover in view of the next Champions League matches. In the first half the guests were one step away from scoring with Thuram in the 6th minute, but Ochoa effectively blocked the French striker’s header. Salernitana came close to scoring with Kastanos, who sent a left-footed shot just wide in the 30th minute.
In the second half, Inter took the lead in the 62nd minute with Lautaro Martinez, who entered the field a few minutes earlier, who takes advantage of Thuram’s low cross from the left with a shot below Ochoa. In the 66th minute Legowski’s potential equalizer was disallowed for offside. The guests double the lead in the 77th minute with the second goal from Lautaro Martinez, who scored the brace with a shot from the center of the area and gave the final push to a match that had been in the balance until then. The Nerazzurri spread and increased their lead to 3 goals again thanks to Lautaro, who in the 85th minute converted a penalty awarded for Thuram’s knockdown. It’s not all: before the final whistle the Argentine striker, still himself, brought his personal tally of goals to 4 with a left-footed shot in the 89th minute.
Inter, Lautaro: “Grown on and off the pitch”
“Today was bread and butter for us, we lost a match at San Siro against Sassuolo, not deserving it and conceding two goals due to our mistakes. Today we had to win, we created chances by making mistakes in front of goal. Then the goal came in the second half, I scored four but what matters is that Inter wins – said Lautaro Martinez at the end of the match – Quality leap in wickedness? Yes, we have already proven it. Today we recovered, it’s important that we are all well and that we respond when the coach calls. I try to grow on and off the pitch. I’m growing up outside with two children and I’m also growing on the field.”
Rafael Leao inspires and Pulisic-Okafor score: Lazio defeats and Milan remains at the top
After a balanced first half, Milan grows in the second half and beats Lazio 2-0 in the second of the three advance matches of the seventh day of Serie A, played at the ‘Meazza’ stadium. Third victory in a row for the Rossoneri, thanks to goals from Pulisic in the 60th minute and Okafor in the 88th minute, both assisted by Leao, who rise to 18 in the rankings, holding first place together with Inter who demolished Salernitana with 4 goals from Lautaro. The poor start to the season continues for the Biancocelesti who are stuck in eleventh place in the standings with 7 points like Verona, Bologna and Genoa. After ten full minutes of study, the first scoring ball fell to the feet of Felipe Anderson. Lazio’s Brazilian winger does it all alone, taking advantage of a misunderstanding between Kjaer and Tomori in the 12th minute to appear in the area and kick: outside the net. In the 16th minute it was Zaccagni who warmed up Maignan’s gloves, while in the 26th minute Felipe himself tried with poor aim. On the opposite front, Mr. Pioli was forced to replace Loftus-Cheek already in the 28th minute due to a muscle problem: Musah on. Five minutes later it was time for the home team’s first attempt, with Leao challenging Provedel at his post thanks to a powerful left-footed shot. After a central shot by Castellanos in the 35th minutethe biggest chance of the first half came in the 44th minute: Giroud’s first-time right-footed shot, blocked by Provedel at the feet of Reijnders who curled it sensationally towards the post.
The approach to the second half by Pioli’s team is very different: the Rossoneri returned to the pitch with great aggression and above all physical intensity, breaking the deadlock in the 15th minute with a great team move. Reijnders starts the action by opening on the left to Leao who raises his head and puts it in the center for Pulisic’s winning turn with his left foot. Lazio feels the pinch and not even the whirlwind of changes manages to change the inertia of the match. Indeed, it was Musah, Tomori and Pulisic who came close to doubling the score between the 72nd and 77th minutes. The result remains in the balance until the end, then the new arrival takes care of it Okafor scores the second to close the match: Leao’s show starting from midfield, arrives in the area, makes an intoxicating dribble and puts the ball in the middle of the Swiss for the easiest of goals into an empty net in the 88th minute. The last emotion of the match is Pedro’s goal disallowed in the 94th minute. The former Chelsea and Barcelona player gets rid of Pobega with a sharp dribble and shoots to the far post, where Maignan cannot reach, but the linesman’s flag rises to signal Immobile is offside.
Milan, Pioli: “Won with full merit. Adli is becoming one of the starters”
“We had prepared her to dribble less in the middle of the court and go deeperin the first half we stretched ourselves a little by allowing counterattacks but in the second we came out very well – explained Milan coach Stefano Pioli after the 2-0 victory against Lazio -. It’s not easy to play every three days, we won a difficult match with great merit.” On Adli’s performance: “I told him it was his first at San Siro, he can be more enterprising, perhaps we could have looked for him more but he is growing a lot. He is becoming one of Milan’s startersI’m happy for him, his growth has been important.” Musah did well when he came in and Pioli hopes that it’s nothing serious for Loftus-Cheek. “In the first half, those who received the ball were more markable, Musah has more leg and insertion characteristics, so he favored Pulisic in one-on-one situations. I would like Yunus to be a little more disciplined but he brought a lot of quality into the match – he added to the microphones of Dazn -. He can play in front of the defense but is more of a midfielder, while Reijnders has great ball management. Now it would be a shame if Loftus-Cheek stopped, we’ll do the evaluations tomorrow morning. He had a pubic problem, perhaps also an abdominal one, Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.” Milan will be on stage in the Champions League on Borussia’s pitch on Wednesday: “I saw Dortmund in difficulty against PSG but they have great intensity in front of which they combine physicality. It will be a difficult match, not decisive for the group but important.”
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