Sassuolo 1 - 2 Inter
Team
— Oct 8th 2022Inter bring home the three points from Mapei Stadium thanks to Dzeko's superb brace, moving them to 15 points
SASSUOLO 1-2 INTER | LIVE
Scorers: 45' Dzeko (I), 60' Frattesi (S), 75' Dzeko (I)
SASSUOLO (4-3-3): 47 Consigli; 22 Toljan, 28 Erlic ( 5 Ayhan 82'), 13 Ferrari (44 Tressoldi 89'), 6 Rogerio; 16 Frattesi (11 Alvarez 82'), 27 Maxime Lopez, 42 Thorstvedt (8 Harroui 71'); 45 Laurienté, 9 Pinamonti, 15 Ceide (18 Antiste 71'). Unused Subs: 25 Pegolo, 64 Russo, 3 Marchizza, 7 Henrique, 14 Obiang, 35 D'Andrea, 77 Kiriakopoulos. Head Coach: Alessio Dionisi.
INTER (3-5-2): 24 Onana; 33 D'Ambrosio (37 Skriniar 58'), 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni; 2 Dumfries, 23 Barella (5 Gagliardini 84'), 14 Asllani (22 Mkhitaryan 46'), 20 Calhanoglu, 32 Dimarco (36 Darmian 68'); 9 Dzeko, 10 Lautaro. Unused Subs: 1 Handanovic, 40 Botis, 6 De Vrij, 8 Gosens, 12 Bellanova, 42 Curatolo, 45 Carboni, 50 Stankovic. Head Coach: Simone Inzaghi.
Bookings: Asllani (I), Ferrari (S), D'Ambrosio (I), Harroui (S), Tressoldi (S). Note: Booked S. Inzaghi (I) Injury-Time: 1' - 4'.
Referee: Sozza. Assistants: Valeriani, Dei Giudici. Fourth official: Colombo. VAR: Guida. VAR Assistant: Maggioni.
When things aren't going the way you want them to, you need the right mentality; following up big results with another big result, you need the right mentality; when you are in the lead, but the opposition fight back, you need the right mentality. And when you need your top players to come up trumps, you need the right mentality, and that's just what Edin Dzeko had as his double gave Inter a 2-1 win over Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium. The Bosnian striker got one with his feet and one with his head, stopping the negative run of league results, and backing up the fabulous midweek win against Barcellona, who they now face next in the return leg at Camp Nou. Sassuolo vs. Inter was the Dzeko show, just as it was last season when the number 9 scored a diving header; Sassuolo is Edin's favourite team with eight Serie A goals against the Neroverdi. With his brace at the Mapei Stadium, Dzeko has now gone beyond 100 goals in Serie A to 101. But it wasn't only a game of goals for him; he was also effective in bringing others into play, with lay-offs, and keeping possession. He was also close to a hat-trick at the end, in a game that Inter closed out perfectly after the number nine's double. Onana made his Serie A debut, with a back three made up of Italians with D'Ambrosio, Acerbi and Bastoni. Asllani was placed into the centre of midfield with Dzeko and Lautaro up top. Inzaghi's side were aggressive but cautious, wary of Sassuolo's qualities: well-timed deep runs and speed in attacking areas. The unpredicatble Laurienté was busy and a threat all afternoon on the left-hand side. Inside, Frattesi and Co. were always looking for spaces and pockets to get into. Onana was first called into action with a smart save with his feet, but Inter moved the ball around well finding Dimarco and Dumfries often. The Dutchman was the most dangerous of the half on the right-hand side, putting in lots of balls into the box. From one of these, Lautaro came closest with an outstretched attempt but he couldn't keep it on target and the ball slid just past the post. But Sassuolo kept the Nerazzurri backline worried: Frattesi was everywhere with Laurienté driving his team forward. Inter, though, were compact and solid and went ahead in the closing stages of the half: Calhanoglu's corner flicked off Dumfries and Dzeko wrapped his right foot around the ball to strike it home from close range. At half-time, Mkhitaryan replaced Asllani, but the match re-started as it had finished with Sassuolo exploiting the left hand side well: a cross by Rogerio found Frattesi who was there to find the net to make it 1-1, perfectly timing his run into the box. But it didn't fluster Inter who took control of the last half hour to show their value and character. Consigli made an outstanding save from Lautaro but couldn't stop Dzeko's close-range header soon after, on the 75th-minute mark, from Mkhitaryan's sublime cross from the left; the 4,000-strong Nerazzurri backing at Mapei went wild as they went 2-1 up. Sassuolo failed to respond to going behind and it was Inter who dominated the game from thereon in, keeping hold of possession and not conceding anything to the home side; Gagliardini and Dzeko both came close to extending the lead late on. The away side saw the game out and the final whistle blew with three big points in the bag.
LIVE UPDATES
FT: INTER WIN IT 2-1. A double for Edin Dzeko gives us the three points.
90'+2 Dzeko looking for his hat-trick but his shot is tipped over.
90' Four minutes of injury-time added.
84' Sub for Inter with Gagliaridini replacing Barella.
77' GOOOAAALLLLLL INTER, 2-1. Edin Dzeko gets his second of the day to give us the lead.
68' Third change for Inter as Darmian replaces Dimarco.
62' Lauriente drives at the Inter defence and his shot is deflected out for a corner. Sassuolo's tails are up!
60' Sassuolo equalise through Frattesi who makes it 1-1.
58' Inter's second change sees Skriniar come on for D'Ambrosio.
55' Sassuolo chance! A ball in from the left is headed just wide by Captain Ferrari.
46' First change for Inter with Mkhitaryan replacing Asllani.
46' Second half underway.
LIVE UPDATES
HT: We lead at the break!
44' GOOOAAALLLLLL!! Edin Dzeko gives us the lead, flicking in from a Dumfries corner. 1-0 INTER!
43' Sassuolo come close to taking the lead but Ceide just can't get his shot off
38' Pinamonti's shot goes out for a corner for the home side. From the resulting corner, Inter break away but can't take advantage and the move breaks down.
28' An Inter corner flashes across the goal but misses everyone.
20' Sassuolo's Captain Ferrari booked.
14' Great run down the right from Dumfries who puts a low ball into the box, but Lautaro's attempt goes just wide.
10' Great run through the middle of the pitch from Bastoni who plays in Lautaro but his shot is blocked.
4' Onana straight into action keeping out Frattesi at the near post.
1' We're off at the Mapei Stadium!
SERIE A | 9.a GIORNATA
SASSUOLO-INTER 1-2 MILAN-JUVENTUS, sabato 8 ottobre 18:00 BOLOGNA-SAMPDORIA, sabato 8 ottobre 20:45 TORINO-EMPOLI, domenica 9 ottobre 12:30 MONZA-SPEZIA, domenica 9 ottobre 15:00 SALERNITANA-VERONA, domenica 9 ottobre 15:00 UDINESE-ATALANTA, domenica 9 ottobre 15:00 CREMONESE-NAPOLI, domenica 9 ottobre 18:00 ROMA-LECCE, domenica 9 ottobre 20:45 FIORENTINA-LAZIO, lunedì 10 ottobre 20:45
LA CLASSIFICA
Napoli 20, Atalanta 20; Udinese 19; Lazio 17, Milan 17; Roma 16; Juventus 13; Inter 15*; Sassuolo 12*; Torino 10; Fiorentina; Spezia 8; Lecce 7, Salernitana 7, Empoli 7, Monza 7; Bologna 6; Hellas Verona 5; Cremonese 3; Sampdoria 2.