Simone Inzaghi praises the ‘intensity’ of Inter’s performance against Lecce, is pleased with the progress of his squad players and prefers to look at the positives rather than regrets this season.
The Nerazzurri made short work of mid-table Lecce at San Siro, as Henrikh Mkhitaryan swept his finish into the top corner from the edge of the box on a Nicolò Barella assist, then Denzel Dumfries rolled across for Lautaro Martinez to fire in.
This result means they not only consolidate second place, they also close the gap on leaders Inter to 15 points and break away from Milan.
“It was a very good performance, we had the right approach and never lowered the intensity levels. The team deserved the victory against a Lecce side that has caused problems for many big clubs this season,” Inzaghi told DAZN.
“We were always focused, never took our foot off the gas, and that is how you win games. Lecce are aggressive, they press you man for man, so we had to move a great deal off the ball and create the spaces for ourselves. The lads did really well.”
After the goal, Lautaro Martinez made a big show of pointing to Dumfries and calling for the crowd to cheer on the Dutchman, who had previously been jeered by some of the fans for misplaced passes.
With Marcelo Brozovic and Samir Handanovic on the bench, the World Cup winner really has taken on the role of captain.
“We have many leaders in this squad. He’s been here for many years and is very important for us, so we must all continue like this,” noted Inzaghi.
“Dumfries returned from the World Cup a bit deflated, but he is improving too.”
The gap from Napoli has been cut to 15 points, but the regrets remain for the points Inter dropped against the smaller clubs, such as last week’s defeat to Bologna.
“Obviously, we could’ve done more in the league, but we’ve also done some great things over the past 18 months. We still have more matches to play this season and we must play the way we did today.
“It is right to analyse what hasn’t worked, but the past counts for little in football and we are already looking ahead to Spezia.”
Robin Gosens received his second consecutive Serie A start for the first time since he joined Inter from Atalanta in January 2022 and is finally starting to find his form.
“I’ve liked him for a while in training and when he came off the bench, tonight was a great performance. I am rotating the strikers and we’ll have Tucu Correa back next week, so playing every three and a half days, we need everyone.”