Inter Stats | Another D'Ambrosio goal as Inter strike late once again

MILAN – Three goals in the closing stages of a match where Cagliari’s goal initially led a charmed life. Inter showed strength and character to eventually come away with a victory, with Nicolò Barella, Danilo D'Ambrosio and Romelu Lukaku all getting on the scoresheet.

After eleven matchdays, the Nerazzurri sit in second place on 24 points in the league, three points behind Milan.

D'AMBROSIO ONCE AGAIN DECISIVE

Danilo D’Ambrosio scored his third Serie A goal of the season and once again it came late on. It was also very similar to the goal that gave Inter three points against Fiorentina. The Italian defender has now found the net 20 times in 222 appearances for the Nerazzurri. Furthermore, he’s scored in every season since the 2014/15 campaign, with his best goal haul coming last year: five (four in Serie A, one in the Europa League).

Starting from 2012/13, Danilo D’Ambrosio is one of just four defenders to have bagged at least 20 goals in Serie A. The others are Alessandro Florenzi (25), Gonzalo Rodríguez (22) and Leonardo Bonucci (21).

Starting from 2015/16, D’Ambrosio has the second-best record when it comes to goals scored by defenders in Serie A (16). Only Aleksandar Kolarov (17) has done better in this regard.

ANOTHER NERAZZURRI COMEBACK

Inter’s match against Cagliari began with the Nerazzurri pouring forward in search of a goal: Conte’s men had six shots on target in the opening 25 minutes, a record for them in the first half of their fixtures this season. Then came Sottil’s goal and Inter’s late fightback, resulting in the Nerazzurri picking up their fourth consecutive league win. The last time Inter won five league matches in a row was in December 2019. Conte’s side have now scored at least three goals in each of their past four Serie A matches (four against Torino, three against Sassuolo, Bologna and Cagliari): this is the first time that this has happened since August 2017.

In terms of comebacks, only Manchester United (15) have earned more points than Inter (ten) from losing positions in the Top 5 European leagues this campaign.

THE SECOND HALF AND LATE GOALS

Inter have been able to add eight points to their tally due to their second-half performances this season, the best improvement in the league.

The Nerazzurri have found the net nine times in the final 15 minutes of games during the 2020/21 campaign, more than any other side.

BARELLA AND LUKAKU, IMPORTANT GOALS

Against Cagliari, Nicolò Barella scored his second Inter goal in Serie A (after his strike against Verona last season) and his fifth for the Nerazzurri in all competitions. Three of these five goals have been netted in the last 15 minutes of matches: in the 77th minute in Cagliari vs. Inter, after 83 minutes in Inter vs. Verona and on the 90-minute mark in Inter vs. Slavia Prague.

Yesterday, Barella both scored and provided an assist in the same Serie A match for the first time.

Romelu Lukaku has now found the net 13 times in 15 matches this season. The Belgian has scored four goals against Cagliari, making them his second favourite victim in Italy alongside Bologna: only against Genoa (five) has he done better. Lukaku’s first away goal for the Nerazzurri came against the Isolani on 1 September 2019.

Out of the players who have played more than three away matches in the three-points-per-win era, Romelu Lukaku has the best average of goals per game on the road: 19 in 24 away fixtures (0.79).

MILESTONES FOR SKRINIAR AND PERISIC

Ivan Perisic made his 180th Inter appearance in Sardinia. Milan Skriniar, meanwhile, played his 150th game in the Italian top flight: 38 for Sampdoria, 112 with Inter.

SERIE A TABLE