Primavera TIM Cup, Inter 6 - 2 Palermo. Nerazzurri into quarter - finals!

MILAN – At the Stadio Breda in Sesto San Giovanni, Armando Madonna’s Primavera side showed what they are capable of with a magnificent first-half performance in which they scored four goals. In the second half, however, the Nerazzurri relaxed too much as Palermo pulled two goals back to give Inter a scare, before Esposito’s brace eventually sealed a 6-2 win for the home side. Armando Madonna’s side have now qualified for the quarter-finals of the Primavera TIM Cup.

Inter began the match well as they earned a corner and went close to taking the lead through Merola’s header, with Palermo’s goalkeeper Avogadri having to produce a great save to deny Inter’s no. 10. In the fourth minute, the away side responded with a Santoro strike from outside the area which hit the post. It was an entertaining match in Sesto San Giovanni: after eight minutes Burgio’s effort just went wide as Inter looked to take the lead. The Nerazzurri did manage to make it 1-0 four minutes later as Davide Merola entered the penalty area and beat Avogadri with his left foot.

Inter doubled their lead in the 17th minute: Mulattieri beat a number of players before playing the ball across the face of the goal to Pompetti, who made no mistake to double his side’s lead. Inter got their third five minutes later: Merola got on the scoresheet once again as he managed to hold off the attentions of his marker before firing home across the goalkeeper with his left foot. Palermo had two efforts around the 30-minute mark, but Vladan Dekic was on hand both times to preserve Inter’s three-goal advantage. Merola just missed out on getting his hat-trick in the 36th minute as his long-range strike was just off target. A few minutes later, Pompetti played in Merola with a great ball, but the latter unfortunately couldn’t add to his goal tally. But Inter’s no. 10 did get his third just before half-time as he came out on top of a one-on-one situation with Palermo’s goalkeeper following Burgio’s assist.

Palermo started the second half well and reduced the deficit in the 54th minute with a Lucera goal on the counterattack. Despite conceding, Inter continued to attack and D’Amcio almost made it 5-1 after coming on for Adorante. In the 67th minute, Van Den Eynden was sent off after giving away a penalty when he was the last defender back. Santoro beat Dekic from the spot to make it 4-2. Palermo continued to attack with the man advantage but the Inter U-19s defended deep while looking to play on the break.

After some minutes spent hanging on while down a man, Sebastiano Esposito’s first goal for the Primavera side killed things off in the 83rd minute after being set up by Colombini. With time running down in the 90th minute, the forward from Castellammare di Stabia scored his second, showing real goalscoring instinct inside the penalty area. It finished 6-2 to send Inter through to the quarter-finals!

Next weekend, the Under-19s will be in action against Torino who are second in the league in what will be the final match of 2018.

INTER 6-2 PALERMO

Goals: 12' , 22' and 43' Merola, 17' Pompetti, 54’ Lucera, 68’ pen. Santoro, 83’ and 90’ Esposito

INTER: 1 Dekic; 2 Van Den Eynden, 4 Nolan, 6 Rizzo, 3 Colombini; 8 Schirò, 5 Pompetti (46’ Demirovic 19); 11 Mulattieri (70’ Pirola 13), 10 Merola (17' Esposito 22), 7 Burgio (80’ Ballabio 16); 9 Adorante (46’ D'Amico 17)

Substitutes: 12 Tintori, 21 Stankovic, 13 Pirola, 14 Serpe, 15 Rizzo Pinna, 16 Ballabio, 18 Colidio, 20 Salcedo

Coach: Armando Madonna

PALERMO: 1 Avogadri; 2 Petrucci, 3 Sicuro, 4 De Marino, 5 Fradella, 6 Santoro, 7 Ruggiero (76’ Louka 19), 8 Mendola (57’ Gallo 18), 9 Cannavo, 10 Lucera, 11 Ag. Rizzo

Substitutes: 12 Al Tumi, 22 Bruno, 13 Gambino, 14 Leonardi, 15 Montaperto, 16 Correnti, 17 Birligea, 20 Minacori

Coach: Giuseppe Scurto

Bookings: Nolan (60’), Ag. Rizzo (66’)

RedCard: Van Den Eynden (67’)

StoppageTime: 1' - 5'

Referee: Marco Monaldi (Macerata)

Assistants: Lenarduzzi (Merano) and Maninetti (Lovere)