Inter Milan Go Joint Top Of Serie A With 2-1 Away Win

The news of Wesley Sneijder pulling out of Inter’s trip to Palermo was hardly the ideal preparation for one of the more difficult away games in the Serie A campaign. With Milan drawing on Saturday, the game represented a great opportunity for Inter to inch away from their city rivals.

The game began in a familiar fashion, with Inter bossing possession but not causing undue concern for Sirigu in the Palermo goal. Inter had 4 shots on goal in the opening 27 minutes.

Walter Samuel was having a stellar performance at the heart of Inter’s defense, showing exactly why he is called the ‘Wall’. Lucio though, looked less settled and one hopes he leaves the shooting on goal to some of his celebrated colleagues.

The first few games of this season have shown a frailty in Inter’s backline, and Palermo’s Josip Ilicic was having a field day running at the Nerazzurri backline. After a couple of warning shots, Palermo took the lead thanks to an effort from Ilicic in the 28^th minute, after Julio Cesar could only parry Javier Pastore’s shot into the path of the Slovenian attacker. He seemed to have acres of space in Inter’s penalty area, and Benitez will need to work his defense over-time on the training ground to root out such lapses in concentration.

Inter responded like the champions they are, and should have found themselves level at 32 minutes when Diego Milito missed a glorious chance one on one against Sirigu. The Milito we knew last season would have buried a similar chance. While his lack of sharpness in front of goal is worrying, he did show very good all-round movement, and his off-the-ball play was as good as last season. This is a good sign, and it is only a matter of time before he scores his first, so long as he continues making the intelligent runs that he is currently.

With Sneijder out it became quite evident that Inter do not have a clearly designated #2 for dead ball situations. This might be an area to look into, especially in matches where chances from open play are few and far between.

Christian Chivu’s lack of form is also a cause for worry. Mattia Cassani was having a field day against the Romanian. He did make a couple of crucial interceptions, cutting into the centre of defense, but if his overall performances continue in the same vein, Santon might see his first start sooner rather than later.

The rest of the half panned out in similar fashion, with Pastore having a very good showing. Stankovic was unlucky as he hit the cross-bar and the ball deflected of Sirigu, who did not have a clue where the ball was. Elsewhere, Juventus and Roma were both winning their matches, so the pressure was really on Inter to come up with a result.

The second half began with no changes from either manager. Unlike the first half, however, Palermo really took the attack to Inter and had two or three excellent opportunities to double their lead. These misses however, would prove costly for the Sicilians.

The increased threat from Palermo caused Benitez to juggle his formation. Zanetti was playing much more on the right side of midfield and providing support for the overlapping Maicon. Cambiasso was moved into a more withdrawn role. This gave the added shield of protection that the back line so badly needed. Goran Pandev played a similar role to Zanetti but on the left flank. Stankovic was playing at the head of a diamond shaped midfield, and was the most advanced of the midfielders. This advanced role for the Serbian captain would reap rich rewards for Inter just a few minutes later.

Diego Milito picked the ball up on the edge of the Palermo penalty area and managed to find Samuel Eto’o. After that, the Cameroonian left Munoz in his wake and launched a vicious shot across the helpless Sirigu, who could only watch as the ball drilled past him into the far corner. And, just like that, Inter made it 1-1 on 62 minutes.

Eight minutes later, after some slick inter-play with Maicon in the Palermo penalty area, Stankovic turned provider for Eto’o. The Serbian made the most of his advanced role in Inter’s midfield and laid the ball off to Eto’o, who shot past Sirigu at his near post and gave Inter the lead—which they would not relinquish.

Palermo tried hard to get the equalizer and, but for some sloppy play from Abel Hernandez, might well have found their second. Once again, Chivu was turning out to be the weak link in the back line. Save for an offside call, the Romanian had all but given Palermo a penalty after clumsily fouling Cassani in the Inter penalty area.

Towards the end Julio Cesar showed what seems to be a slight chink in his armor. He deflected a shot from Pastore onto the upright. It was reminiscent of his error against Atletico Madrid’s Reyes in the UEFA Super Cup, which led to a goal on that night.

Three points mean that Inter are joint top of Serie A, given Chievo’s home defeat to Brescia. Roma let a 2-0 lead at home slip as Marco Di Vaio struck twice to shock last season’s runners up. Juventus had the result of the day as they hammered Udinese 4-0 on their home turf.

Inter fans who were worried at the start of the campaign might now begin to start believing more in this team. Today’s result against a team that had gone 29 games unbeaten at home, with almost sixty percent of the ball possession, speaks to how much the team has progressed since the 2-0 reverse they suffered in the Super Cup.

The defense does need tightening up, and Milito’s performances might see an improvement playing alongside Eto’o. Other than a few worries, the team is moving in the right direction. It does seem as though Benitez is slowly but surely getting his ideas across to his very talented squad. The visit of Bari in the midweek fixture at the San Siro will be a good test for the team as the Galletti held Inter to a 1-1 draw last season.

If we have learnt one thing from this team so far it is that they have not lost any of their fighting spirit from last season. The ability to come back after conceding is not something that can be cultivated overnight and has been exhibited by the Nerazzurri three times this season. The opposition can always expect a response with the mentality exhibited by the team thus far. Which goes to show that, once you have a winning mentality installed, it’s the players that define a team as much as the manager.