Inzaghi: "I hope the many Inter fans here in Rome are happy!"

ROME – Inter registered a fourth win in a row to leave Rome with three points and all three goals in Week 16 of the 2021/22 campaign. The visitors’ superiority was confirmed in the first half, starting with Hakan Calhanoglu’s goal directly from a corner, Edin Dzeko’s finish at the end of a stunning move and Denzel Dumfries’ brilliant header to put the game to bed before the interval.

“I don’t know if it was Inter’s best display of the season because we’ve produced similar performances on other occasions,” explained Simone Inzaghi in his post-match interview with DAZN.

“It’s not easy to win here and this victory gives us confidence ahead of an intense run of fixtures. So many Inter fans came to watch us here and I hope they’re happy.”

The coach touched on Alessandro Bastoni’s contribution going forward, as well as the role his other defenders play: “I like it when our defenders push forward. I’m lucky enough to coach some top players. With Bastoni and [Federico] Dimarco down the left and [Milan] Skriniar and [Danilo] D’Ambrosio down the right, we have plenty of potential. 

“We’ve had some issues in our last five games. Unfortunately, that happens when you play so often, but fortunately nobody has noticed. [Joaquin] Correa got injured today and I didn’t want to risk Lautaro [Martinez], even though he made himself available, because he’s a key player for us and I didn’t want to lose him.

“I have to try to rotate and play everyone because I have fantastic resources at my disposal. For example, [Roberto] Gagliardini, who was one of the best players against Spezia, didn’t play this evening. I’m lucky to coach top players I try to help them develop their attributes every day so that they can perform at their best.

“My teams have been playing in a certain way for many years now. The players may change, but the idea remains the same. I was lucky enough to take over the reins at this wonderful club, but the first target was to safeguard Inter. We lost some key players, but we didn’t let our heads drop. We’ve worked hard and even when we were ten points off the pace, I stayed calm because I could see how committed the players were and the performances they were producing.

“Three penalties were a big blow to us: the ones we missed against Atalanta and Milan and the one we conceded against Juve, but we’ve never let them get to us and we kept moving forward down our path.”

The boss finished up by discussing his feelings while returning to the Olimpico: “It’s never a normal thing for me. It’s special, but I was so focused on today’s game because we wanted the three points and despite Roma having a few absentees, they still sent a very competitive team out there. We have some extraordinary players who always try to follow instructions from me and my staff. We played as well as we could’ve done out there today.”