Lautaro's goal in vain as Inter fall at Cagliari

CAGLIARI - Inter fell to a tough defeat on matchday 26 of the Serie A TIM season. The Nerazzurri lost 2-1 at Cagliari, with all of the goals coming in the first half. Ceppitelli opened the scoring for the hosts before Lautaro Martinez equalised, only for Pavoletti to respond with what would turn out to be the winning goal. The result means that Inter remain third on 47 points, while waiting to see the results in the AC Milan and Lazio games.

The match was intense from the off with the hosts showing an aggressive attitude. The first chances came in the tenth minute. Ionita couldn’t hit the target with his header from a Srna cross before Perisic forced Cragno into a save with a powerful but central effort. In the 12th minute, Cigarini ran the risk of being sent off after a late challenge on Nainggolan but he was let off while already on a booking. In the 13th minute, play briefly stopped as the whole stadium paid tribute to Davide Astori in an emotional moment after he passed away on 4 March a year ago. Cagliari were dangerous straight after with link-up play between Joao Pedro and Pavoletti but Handanovic responded to deny the centre-forward. The deadlock was broken in the 31st minute. Cigarini played in a deep free kick which Ceppitelli got to ahead of Perisic to leave Handanovic with no chance. Not long after, Inter ran the risk of going two down but Handanovic saved from Joao Pedro and Faragò fired over from close range. After the danger had passed, the Nerazzurri drew level. In the 38th minute, Lautaro Martinez got ahead of everyone at the near post to nod on Nainggolan’s cross and beat Cragno. At the end of the half, Inter also had a chance to go ahead when Pisacane went close to turning a low Perisic cross into his own net. However, it was the hosts who scored before the whistle to restore their lead. In the 43rd minute, Pavoletti turned home a Srna cross with a spectacular volley that picked out the bottom corner and it was 2-1 for the Rossoblu at the break.

The teams came out for the second half with no changes having been made at the break. Inter immediately tried to put Cagliari under pressure: in the 50th minute, Lautaro turned in the final third and drove forward, only to then fire over from the edge of the area. The Nerazzurri had a double chance five minutes later: Lautaro managed to protect the ball and find Politano in the penalty box, but the Italian was denied by Cragno, with the Cagliari goalkeeper then also going on to save El Toro’s effort just seconds later. Cagliari then managed to hit back as they had two attempts in a matter of minutes: first, Handanovic kept out Faragò’s long-range strike before Pavoletti struck the ball over the bar when well placed. With Inter struggling to threaten the home side’s goal, Spalletti brought on Borja Valero for Vecino after 68 minutes in an attempt to shake things up. Ten minutes later, Inter came close to levelling the match: Lautaro got on the end of D’Ambrosio’s cross but put the ball inches wide. The Nerazzurri had yet another chance in the 83rd minute: Borja received the ball in the box from Asamoah but then shot over the bar from an excellent position after getting the better of an opposition player. Candreva replaced Asamoah in the final stages as Inter ratcheted up the pressure. In the 85th minute, Lautaro did well to control Nainggolan’s low cross and fire towards goal, but Cragno was there to tip the ball onto the post. Spalletti then made his last change: Ranocchia came on for Brozovic. After 91 minutes, Skrinar brought down substitute Despodiv in the area and Cagliari were awarded a penalty. Barella stepped up to take it but fired well over the bar. Inter continued to push forward until the 97th minute and had a final chance when Candreva headed Politano’s cross over, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. The final whistle was blown and Cagliari ran out 2-1 winners.

A hard defeat to take, but the Nerazzurri need to put it immediately behind them: on Thursday 7 March, Spalletti’s side will travel to Frankfurt to face Eintracht at the Round of 16 stage of the Europa League. Following this, Inter will once again be back in league action when they face Spal at San Siro on Sunday 10 March.

Now and forever, #ForzaInter!

CAGLIARI 2-1 INTER

Goals: 31' Ceppitelli (C), 38' Lautaro (I), 43' Pavoletti (C)

CAGLIARI: 28 Cragno; 33 Srna, 19 Pisacane, 23 Ceppitelli, 3 Pellegrini; 21 Ionita (86' 20 Padoin), 8 Cigarini (70' 6 Bradaric), 24 Faragò; 18 Barella; 10 Joao Pedro (81' 32 Despodov), 30 Pavoletti

Substitutes: 1 Rafael, 16 Aresti, 12 Cacciatore, 17 Oliva, 22 Lykogiannis, 26 Leverbe, 36 Doratiotto, 77 Thereau

Coach: Rolando Maran

INTER: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio, 6 De Vrij, 37 Skriniar, 18 Asamoah (83' 87 Candreva); 8 Vecino(68' 20 Borja Valero) , 77 Brozovic (87' 13 Ranocchia); 16 Politano, 14 Nainggolan, 44 Perisic; 10 Lautaro

Substitutes: 27 Padelli, 5 Gagliardini, 15 Joao Mario, 21 Cedric, 23 Miranda, 29 Dalbert, 61 Colidio

Coach: Luciano Spalletti

Bookings: Cigarini (C), Joao Pedro (C), Skriniar (I), Vecino (I), Brozovic (I), Pavoletti (C), Cragno (C)

Addedtime: 2' + 7'

Referee: Banti

Assistants: Costanzo; Manganelli

Fourthofficial: Fourneau

VARofficials: Doveri; Vivenzi