Yann Sommer reveals he ‘studied’ Fiorentina striker Nico Gonzalez to make the penalty save and gives the secret to Inter keeping 18 clean sheets this season.
The deadlock was broken early by a Lautaro Martinez glancing header at the near post from the Kristjan Asllani corner kick.
Nico Gonzalez had the opportunity to equalise when Sommer caught M’Bala Nzola in the face, but scuffed the penalty straight into the goalkeeper’s arms.
“It was a difficult situation. I was sure I touched it first, the referee decided like this,” Sommer told DAZN, referring to his attempt to punch the ball clear.
“We study a lot before the game, so we know a little bit what the player will do and we were ready.”
The next match will be a Scudetto showdown against Juventus at San Siro on February 4 and Inter are top of the table, with a game in hand to be played against Atalanta.
“At the moment we are really happy that we won this game. It was not easy against a difficult opponent, we had a lot of chances to score.
“Now we will prepare well for the next game and then we’ll see.”
This is Sommer’s 18th clean sheet in all competition with Inter, so is it with a solid defence that you win titles?
“We don’t think too far ahead, but it is big work from the team, how we defend with a lot of passion and quality, that’s why we have so many clean sheets this season.
“We have to keep on going, it will be tough in the next weeks. We have to enjoy this really important win.”
Sommer was brought in from Bayern Munich as a replacement for Andre Onana, who has struggled since the €50m transfer to Manchester United, but more than filled the Cameroon international’s shoes.
Fiorentina get a chance to equalise against Inter with 10 minutes after this challenge left but cannot convert from the spot… pic.twitter.com/qDpnKo1Uyh
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