A blog about the latest soccer news, best players, transfer talk and anything else about the world game, with a heavy focus on the Selecao and Inter Milan!
Inter had a chance to win the Scudetto for the third time running as well as defeat their bitter rivals in the local derby but it seems that Milan’s hunger for the last Champion’s League spot was greater.
The first 60 minutes were pretty much all Milan, they attacked Inter furiously and Kaka’ was causing a lot of problems for the make-shift defensive. Milan put themselves ahead shortly after the restart as Inzaghi continued his great form of late with another goal. Five minutes later, who else but Kaka’ doubled the score. Inter finally woke up and turned the tables on their rivals. Now they were attacking with everything they had and even though Cruz managed to pull one back with a lovely curling free kick, 15 minutes from time. It wasn’t quite enough as Milan held on for all three points.
So Inter only has three points between themselves and Roma although I’m pretty sure they’re safe in the head-to-head result which would decide things if they were on equal points. Nonetheless, Inter can’t afford to lose the last two games!
Found a good clip (in terms of the highlights) for the match played yesterday where Inter faced off with Juventus in the TIM cup quarter final. Inter ended up winning the match 3-2 to book a place in the semi-finals against Lazio (5-4 winners on aggregate).
It was Inter’s 17 year old striker, Mario Balotelli, that was the star of the show with a brace of goals each side of half time. For his first goal he saw off Birindelli and then controlled Maniche’s ball allowing a simple tap into the far post. Del Piero responded with a free kick that took a deflection off the Inter wall before landing in the net, Toldo could only watch. Juve went ahead on 31 minutes after Toldo tipped another Del Piero free kick into the top post allowing Iaquinta to head in the rebound from close range. Just before the break, Salihamidzic handled the ball in the box and Julio Cruz made no mistake from the resulting spot kick. Balotelli soon struck again after the restart, grabbing on to a Stankovic ball, turnings and shooting into the top right corner.
Ranieri saw Juve’s exit from the cup fast approaching and brought on Trezeguet and Camoranesi but even they had little impact. It was Inter that continued to push and put the result beyond doubt. Camoranesi got a straight red for and ugly challenge on Pele, Inter’s young Portuguese midfielder, and hence left Juve with little way to make a comeback. Enjoy the highlights.
A quick post to summarise the result between Inter and Milan in the classic Milan derby.
The game ended 2-1 in Inter’s favour with goals from Julio Cruz and Cambiasso on either side of half-time. Adrea Pirlo opened the scoring to put Milan up 1-0 from a trademark free-kick just outside the box around 17 mins although Ibrahimovic was unlucky not to score early on with a powerful volley just above the bar from a Maicon cross.
Dida saved Milan on 19 minutes by tipping away a cross that was about to hit the feet of an Inter player. He took a knock from one of his players for his trouble and almost conceded as the ball was shot into the bar from the deflection. Around 32 minutes, Kaka’ went on a blazing run that had Samuel not knowing which way to turn, in fact it looked like he twisted his knee on the final turn. On 35 minutes, Julio Cruz leveled the score with a pin-point accurate shot, slotting the ball through defenders, legs and the near post.
There were signs a second goal was coming and on 62 minutes, Cambiasso took a shot that wrong-footed Dida who could only helplessly wave his legs aroung in a futile attempt to deflect the ball away, 2-1 Inter. Finally towards the end of the game Kaka’ had a volley saved by his fellow country-man, Julio Cesar. He was also unlucky not to score and could very well have tied the match.
Just a quick post with some video highlights of Inter defeating Atalanta on the weekend. Inter started with the pedal to the metal but lifted off the gas towards the end of the match. They seemed to do enough and a win’s a win I guess…
Inter were able to retain the top spot of serie A after defeating Napoli 2-1.
This time it wasn’t Ibrahimovic grabbing a brace, it was in fact Cruz who put two away. One thanks to Ibrahimovic who did the hard work to allow Cruz a simple tap in on 19 minutes. While the second goal was a well timed pass and run for Cruz to chest down and blast past the keeper under some pressure at the 35 minute mark. Napoli were able to pull one back on the 39th minute in the second half but it wasn’t enough to ensure any points.
Will Inter’s domination of the league continue again or has AC Milan found it’s feat again after drubbing Lazio 5-1? Perhaps Juventus or Roma will still be able to put together a serious challenge for the title. Anyways, enjoy the highlights…
So the hype and comments are flying as Inter and Roma prepare to do battle to decide the strongest of serie A on the weekend in an epic top of the table clash.
Roma is in blistering form and playing some of the most attractive football in all European competitions at the moment. Inter is up and down as usual but Ibrahimovic is also in blistering form and can’t seem to put a foot wrong! He is sitting at the top of the scoring charts, tied with Trezeque on 6 goals, 2 above Totti.
Inter is somewhat depleted in defense with Materazzi, Maicon and Viera out because of injuries and suspensions. It will be interesting to see what Mancini can do with the players on hand. Roma also has a few injuries to deal with so both teams will have to adjust their regular line-ups.
Roma will have the advantage of a home crowd but Inter go into the match off a 3-0 thumping of Sampadoria in the middle of the week. Hopefully it will be another classic like the 06 supercup match between the two teams…
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If you’d like to see the highlights of Inter’s 3-0 waxing of Sampadoria earlier in the week, see below. A brace for Ibrahimovic and Figo magic to wrap it up.
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Edit: Inter vs Roma = 4-1
You can read my brief review or just skip to the match highlights below.
The score doesn’t tell the full story but it was a convincing win by Inter over an ultimately 10-man Roma. Early on Roma were playing some good football but after Guily blatantly and intentionally handled the ball in the area to prevent a header, following a blocked shot, from going in, Roma were reduced to 10 men. Ibrahimovic calmly put away the penalty.
After that it looked like Roma were going to save themselves and hold out for a draw with Perrota leveling the score. But it wasn’t to last as the immense pressure that Inter laid on eventually cracked Roma open. First with Crespo putting away a deflected Cambiasso shot, then Cruz blasting in a long range effort and finally Cordoba headed home the final nail in the coffin.
