Inter played their first game under the new ownership of Erik Thohir when they travelled to take on Torino in round eight of Serie A, hoping to bounce back from a recent drop in form and maintain a push towards Champion’s League qualification.
Picking up a maximum three points became particularly important given the failure of Juventus and Napoli to win their respective fixtures earlier in the round and Inter had an opportunity to close the gap to third place.
However, Torino had plans of their own and what occurred was an enthralling game full of thrills and spills as a 10 man Inter ended the night with a 3-3 draw and came away from Turin with a solitary point to their name.
Walter Mazzarri was forced to shuffle his starting 11 through the absence of Ricky Alvarez, Hugo Campagnaro, Javier Zanetti, Diego Milito and Cristian Chivu due to injuries, so Mateo Kovacic was handed a rare start in the no.10 role behind Rodrigo Palacio in the usual 3-5-1-1 system.
Inter began the game in a sluggish manner and it seemed the players had yet to recover from the international break the week previously. Torino were able to penetrate down Inter’s flanks, with Alessio Cerci exposing Rolando early on and hitting the post with a well taken shot.
The game turned from bad to worse for Inter in the fifth minute as Samir Handanovic saw red for bringing down Cerci inside the penalty area as he attempted to smother the ball at his feet.
The award of the penalty seemed questionable, as Cerci’s trailing boot connected with Handanovic’s face and the ‘keeper was unaware of Cerci’s presence in the area. But for the referee to present the Slovenian with a red card was extremely harsh. There was no clear intent to deny a goal scoring opportunity and from this point onwards, the game was turned in Torino’s favour.
Juan Pablo Carrizo came off the bench to replace Kovacic and saved the resulting penalty from Cerci to keep the scores level at 0-0.
Playing with a man down, Inter were forced back into their own half as Torino looked to gain the lead. Alexander Farnerud opened the scoring in the 21st minute after Cerci found him down the left flank to set him up for a half volley and make it 1-0.
Fredy Guarin equalised on the stroke of half-time, producing a rare moment of quality to level the scores at 1-1; as Torino failed to clear a corner sufficiently and the Colombian scored a spectacular overhead kick. It was the least he could to make up for his error in the lead up to Torino’s first goal and being genuinely appalling for much of the first half.
Ciro Immobile’s introduction after half-time further troubled Inter’s backline and the Italian striker soon made it 2-1 when he fired in a deflected Cerci shot amidst commotion in the box.
However, to Inter’s credit they would not give up and showed their fighting to spirit to come back once more when Saphir Taider looped in a cross which found Palacio free to head in at 2-2, with Daniele Padelli unable to prevent it due to pressure from Guarin.
Mazzarri introduced Ishak Belfodil for Taider as Inter looked to chase the lead and close the gap on third placed Napoli.
It was to prove a wise decision by the coach as the Algerian striker’s vision enabled him to find Palacio to set up Inter’s third goal in the 71st minute, with the Argentine forward sliding in at the back-post to put Inter ahead at 3-2.
Mazzarri deserves credit for sticking with Belfodil when Mauro Icardi may have seen the more obvious option when Inter were chasing the game.
However, Mazzarri’s next tactical switch was to cost Inter victory as he introduced Wallace in place of Palacio, bringing the young Brazilian on with the aim of shoring up Inter’s defence and hanging on for all three points. It would prove to be a decision which the Italian tactician will rue for months to come.
In the closing minutes of stoppage time the wing-back gave away a needless free-kick on the edge of the area in a dangerous position, which Nicola Bellomo stood over. Carrizzo was caught off guard as Bellomo floated the ball into the top corner of the net and deceived the ‘keeper.
Inter were left with mud on their faces. After fighting back to a winning position, they had yet again thrown away three points and shown their naivety. This draw will feel like a defeat, having come so close to victory only to throw it away.
Mazzarri cannot solely blame they players for this performance, he made some crucial tactical errors and the referees also made some curious decisions throughout the match. The club will look to appeal the red card awarded to Handanovic in hopes of having it overturned before the home fixture against Hellas Verona in round nine.
