Izzo climbs highest to send Inter tumbling at Torino

Date: 27th January 2019 at 7:58pm
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A first-half header from Armando Izzo proved enough as Torino beat Inter 1-0 at a freezing Stadio Olimpico in Serie A on Sunday evening.

Both Lautaro Martinez and Mauro Icardi started in attack for Inter and it was the former who had the game’s first chance and should have opened the scoring, but his close-range effort went wide.

Toro took a surprise lead through an unlikely source in Armando Izzo as the defender got highest from a corner and his looping header found its way into the far corner.

The second half was somewhat cagier than the first but clear-cut chances remained few and far between, with neither goalkeeper being called into action too much.

Matteo Politano made something of a difference after his arrival but never quite had the impact he would have wanted.

The ex-Sassuolo forward’s biggest contribution was managing to talk himself into a red card, much to the fury of Luciano Spalletti and Icardi.

Spalletti slips

In an overcomplimentary sign of respect to Torino, Inter unusually lined up in a 3-5-2 as Luciano Spalletti decided to mirror Walter Mazzarri’s side and they never looked entirely comfortable.

Dalbert and Danilo D’Ambrosio didn’t find themselves as involved as the coach would have expected and despite having three players – Marcelo Brozovic, Matias Vecino and Joao Mario – in midfield, the game was quite open in the first 45 minutes.

With ten minutes of the second half played, Spalletti acknowledged his error and withdrew Miranda for Radja Nainggolan, subsequently switching to a four-man defence and leaving the Belgian to accompany Lautaro behind Icardi.

Toro’s wandering forwards

Inter struggled to get to grips with Andrea Belotti and Simone Zaza as the pair never stood still, rarely even staying in the same part of the pitch.

Belotti dropped deep and he moved wide and wherever he went he pulled a Nerazzurri defender with him or, if not, found an enormous amount of space.

The Granata showed fluidity in their shape and at times it looked as though Il Gallo was a left winger in a three behind Zaza, only to be his partner in a two-pronged attack moments later.

Their movement left Inter looking lost and the Biscione backline were never allowed to feel comfortable in the knowledge of their whereabouts.

 

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