Lautaro gave Inter a hard time. The club was sensationally eliminated from the Italian Cup!

Lautaro gave Inter a hard time. The club was sensationally eliminated from the Italian Cup!

Georgy Ilyushchenko December 21, 2023, 02:02 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

It was not possible to face Bologna even in extra time.

Bologna is the main upstart of the current Serie A. Thiago Motta’s team is among the top four after 16 rounds, without losing either to Juventus (1-1), or to Napoli (0-0), or to Inter (2-2). ). They also eliminated the Romans: 1-0 with Lazio and 2-0 with Roma.

But those were championship games. The Cup is a completely different matter. Even without European tournaments, the Italians have a very complicated schedule, because this winter they will not have a break. If there is a place to rotate the squad, it is here. In mixed teams, football is unpredictable and depends more on the depth of the bench, which was what Bologna’s new match against Inter should show. The favorite really dominated, but unexpectedly missed the victory!

Motta left the top scorer of the Zirkzee team in the reserve team, as well as other teachers: Skorupski, Ndoy, Ferguson, Freuler and Calafiori. Inzaghi, of course, also saved many leaders: Sommer, DiMarco, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu and Thuram.

But from the first minutes Lautaro appeared on the field, and this was a big surprise, despite Alexis’ injury. However, the main threat for Bologna came from Aslani: in the first half he made two key passes, crossed five times (twice with precision) and rarely made errors in his passes: 42 out of 44 with precision.

The Albanian became the main architect of the Milan attacks and, largely thanks to him, Inter beat the rival with a huge margin in the first half: nine shots on goal against one. However, they did not provide any particular insight. And the visitors had the most dangerous moment: Saelemaekers shot with his heel after a cross from Lykogiannis and narrowly missed. If the Belgian had been right, the video of his goal would have instantly become a success.

Alexis Saelemaekers in the match Inter – Bologna 12/20/23

Photo: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images

In the second half, apart from Frattesi’s mistake from a decisive position, in the 63rd minute there was nothing dangerous. And then 19-year-old Corazza made an awkward handball on Inter’s corner and the referee, after watching the video replay, awarded a penalty kick. Lautaro went to beat him, not in vain he didn’t rest today. And Skorupski’s substitute, Ravaglia, took Martínez’s clever shot at a convenient height into the right corner! It seems that Simone Inzaghi should have also released Calhanoglu: after all, he is the black and blue’s main penalty taker.

Inter immediately became angry with themselves and began to create moments after moments: Arnautovic and Augusto turned dangerously into the far corner, and Lautaro interestingly shot from distance. 15:2 in shots in the 73rd minute: the Nerazzurri clearly did not want to go to extra time. This was confirmed by the change of their coach: during the last 25 minutes of regulation time he left Dimarco, Barella and Thuram free. Motta threw Zirkzee and Ndoye into battle 10 minutes later.

Both castlings did not lead to a goal before extra time. And at the start, Augusto scored immediately, heading in his debut goal for Inter after a Dimarco corner kick.

Carlos Augusto celebrates Bologna’s goal

Photo: Inter/Inter via Getty Images

It seemed that after this Bologna was doomed to failure. Furthermore, Inzaghi strengthened the midfield by releasing Mkhitaryan in place of Lautaro. The red and blue tried with all their might to hold on until the penalty shootout and, when they failed, they had to adapt to play on the attack. Apart from the approaches, nothing was possible and in the 112th minute the guests took the first corner and immediately scored. Lykogiannis served, Zirkzee heeled Boeckem and he returned the ball in touch.

Well, now the series of post-match penalty kicks is definitely ahead? No! Zirkzee eliminated Acerbi with a feint in the center of the field and brought Ndoya close to the goal with an accurate pass. The Swiss, mockingly, threw the ball over Audero and achieved an incredible 2:1.

Bologna did not play enough to win and still entered the 1/4 of the Italian Cup, where Fiorentina awaits them. Inter relaxed too soon and suffered an extremely painful defeat. The only thing he was weaker in was character.

Italy has excellent chances of getting another ticket to the Champions League at the end of the season:

England has a 77% chance of taking fifth place in the Champions League. Designs in the seasonal ranking.