Inter may have lost the Derby della Madonnina to intercity rivals Milan tonight, but Simone Inzaghi’s substitutions almost changed the result.
When the Nerazzurri lost 2-1 to the Rossoneri back in February of this year, one of the main talking points was Inzaghi’s usage of substitutions. In the 69th minute of the match, he took off an in-form Ivan Perisic and Lautaro Martinez for Federico Dimarco and Alexis Sanchez. Four minutes later, Hakan Calhanoglu was replaced with Arturo Vidal.
The pace of the game changed after this and Milan quickly scored two goals within 10 minutes of Inzaghi’s changes, leading to much criticism from Inter fans.
This was not a mistake repeated by Inzaghi tonight. It was an electric and tense affair at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and the Nerazzurri coach made his first round of changes only minutes after Rafael Leao put the Rossoneri 3-1 up.
Inzaghi brought on Edin Dzeko, Federico Dimarco and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in place of Joaquin Correa, Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolo Barella respectively. The Bosnian almost single-handedly dragged Inter back into the match, scoring only a few minutes after coming on. He continued to prove a threat, immediately repaying his coach’s faith.
Dimarco and Mkhitaryan also had good outings, adding fresh legs to the Nerazzurri squad and giving them a little more life after a tiring initial hour. The former in particular did well replacing a lacklustre Bastoni.
Inzaghi’s usage of the bench was smart and even though his team lost, it’s a strong sign for ahead of a long season.