Simone Inzaghi praised Inter for ‘remaining patient, mature and clear-headed’ to break Roma down, then reiterates he wanted Romelu Lukaku to remain over the summer. ‘My choices are for the good of Inter.’
The Nerazzurri needed a victory to recapture top spot from Juventus, who had beaten Verona last night, and it felt cursed when they dominated the game only to hit the woodwork with Hakan Calhanoglu.
However, at the 81st minute Federico Dimarco rolled across from the left for Marcus Thuram to tap in, surprising the Roma centre-backs.
“What makes the difference is how Thuram works in training every day. He focuses on the details, on the field and off, so he must continue like this,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“He is also helped by already knowing the language very well.”
Carlos Augusto also struck the crossbar again late on to consolidate the deserved victory.
“It was not easy today against a Roma side that defended very well, but we stayed patient, mature and clear-headed.”
Inevitably, the build-up was overshadowed by the Inter ultras preparing 30,000 whistles to jeer Lukaku at his every touch.
Many of those were confiscated and ultimately there was not too much of a disturbance, largely because Lukaku barely saw the ball.
“The atmosphere at San Siro has always been exceptional. Clearly, we felt it more today, but when it’s against Roma, Milan, Cagliari or anyone else, the atmosphere at San Siro is always magical.
“The team isolated itself from all that, we worked on the tactics, as Roma are not just Lukaku. There was perhaps the risk of the atmosphere being too much, but I saw a team that was always focused on the game, scored at the 82nd minute and earned a deserved victory. We would’ve deserved an earlier goal, but this is football.
“In the first 13 games of this season, I can only praise the lads, but there’s a long way to go in many different tournaments. We want to go as far as we can, we know it won’t be easy, but our desire is to improve every single day.”
Considering Lukaku’s rapport with Inzaghi was one of the reasons suggested for the bitter split, did the coach meet him today?
“I have already expressed my thoughts on Lukaku this summer. Everyone knows what I did to bring him back and what I was prepared to do to keep him here. Everyone makes their decisions in life, he made his. My choices are always for the good of Inter and not individual players.
“We did not cross paths today, but if we had, then I would’ve said hello with no problems.”
Opposition teams are increasingly working to man-mark Alessandro Bastoni, realising he roams around the pitch a great deal for a centre-back.
“We knew Roma could play 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1, so we prepared both ways. We wanted to push up more down Cristante’s side, as El Shaarawy is more of an attacking option. Pavard and Darmian did well to double up and help on El Shaarawy.”
Inzaghi continued his usual tradition of substituting a player who is on a yellow card, replacing Benjamin Pavard at the break.
“I had to replace Pavard at half-time, because he was doing very well, but if we didn’t score then would be open to a counter-attack, so I preferred to make the change.”