STADIO RENATO DALL’ARA (Bologna) – Romelu Lukaku’s eighth and ninth goals in his first 11 Serie A appearances for Inter allowed the Nerazzurri to leave with all three points having trailed Bologna on Saturday evening.
He and partner Lautaro Martinez had been frustrated by Lukasz Skorupski who pulled off some fine stops but the No.9 had the final say with his stoppage-time penalty.
Romelu Lukaku fired Inter to a comeback at Bologna to leave with all three points and @ConJClancy was there for #FIFattheGames.
Report ? https://t.co/zDiV3h4Wwx#BolognaInter #SerieA pic.twitter.com/7iUSR90zsw
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) November 2, 2019
Valentino Lazaro started for the first time in an Inter shirt and he was lively from the off in front of Antonio Conte on the right. The Austrian slipped a nice ball into Martinez’s path with nine minutes played and Lukasz Skorupski was called into action to make a fine stop.
Skorupski then slipped into something of a snooze though. When a backpass came his way he was too casual and gifted the ball to Lautaro in the box. But the Argentinian rushed his centre to Romelu Lukaku, playing the ball behind the Belgian whose subsequent effort was deflected behind.
Lukaku had ben involved all over. Often dropping deep to hold up play, bounce Bologna players and start moves himself. One of those instances saw him take the ball from Roberto Gagliardini on the right before driving inside. A stepover allowed him to cut inside onto his left foot and Skorupski again had to react well to save down low.
The Rossoblu looked to threaten themselves when space opened up, but the Nerazzurri’s defence barely budged, leaving Riccardo Orsolini and Mattias Svanberg to both unsuccessfully try their luck from range.
That luck turned good just shy of the hour mark though. Roberto Soriano found a pocket of space in front of Inter’s backline and drove low. Despite Samir Handanovic getting down and putting a hand on it, the ball found its way into this net.
Lukaku could have levelled immediately. Shaking himself into space at the near post he tried to flick a low ball towards goal but didn’t meet it with enough of a strong touch.
Milan Skriniar was integral as Inter drew level. The centre-back managed to control a dropping ball in a crowded box before shooting on the turn. Skorupski made an excellent stop but Lukaku was on hand to convert the loose ball from a yard out.
Orsolini foolishly gave away a last-minute penalty, which allowed Lukaku to step up and seal the points as the game ticked over the 90 minutes and into stoppage time. Having converted, Lukaku held his arms out beneath Bologna’s curva and was greeted by a chorus of monkey chants from a small section.
