Davide Frattesi and Thomas Henry’s mistake gave Inter a more than painful victory over Verona

A goal in the penultimate breath of the game, in desperation, from Davide Frattesithe last bullet from the bench by coach Simone Inzaghi, saved Inter who achieved a painful victory that might have eluded them in the end if the Frenchman Thomas Henry he cannot miss a penalty in the last action of the game.

Everything is in store for the final stretch which is sure to be very difficult. The clash that crowned Inter the honorary title of winter champion was maddening in the final quarter of an hour where the leader’s advantage was lost, then regained, in extra time, and that could have escaped him decisively in the final game , with a missed shot from the eleven meters of the visitors, who played extra time, in addition, with one less player due to the expulsion of Dusan Lazovic.

He Inter He carried out the match and recovered from the setback on the last day when he could not overcome the draw with Genoa and met again with the victory in the visit of Verona (2-1) which established him as the leader of Serie A at the end. of the match. first round.

The set of Simone Inzaghirival of Atlético de Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League, begins 2024 successfully and with the title of winter champion under it, which was only interrupted by the good moment of Juventus, which supports it in the classification but now five points although pending their clash on this nineteenth date, on Sunday, in the field of Salernitana.

A visit to Milan brought Verona back to reality. Marco Baroni’s team, which found itself with a point in hand twice, left Giuseppe Meazza empty-handed, anchored in third to last place after suffering a second consecutive setback, in the relegation zone where Cagliari left, tied on points but with a better goal difference and also with one less game.

He had a big chance at the end, with Thomas Henry coming on. Until that moment the visiting team had not been able to worry the leader who had made his way before the quarter of an hour, with a quick move that ended with a good pass from the Georgian. Henrikh Mkhitaryan with Argentine Lautaro Martínez finishing perfectly, without giving Lorenzo Montipo a chance.

He is enjoying the ‘bull’ of his highest performing campaign at Inter. He signed his sixteenth goal. No one threatens his reign as the top scorer on the scoring list. He has sixteen of the nineteen games he has played, seven ahead of Sassuolo attacker Domenico Berardi and eight more than Milan’s Frenchman Oliver Giroud.

Inter could have sentenced it earlier and avoided the breathtaking finish. Because Marcus Thuram, Hakan Çalhanoglu and Carlos Augusto, one after the other, have second goals in their boots.

But the crash came in the last quarter of an hour and everything changed. Thomas Henri, who entered the field a few minutes before Serbian Milan Djuric, tied it by finishing a cross from Slovakian Ondrej Duda’s right with his thigh, in the mouth of the goal. The rivalry went into extra time aiming for a draw.

That’s where the game went crazy. A desperate act. In the 94th minute, Alessandro Bastoni’s shot from outside the area hit the crossbar and the rebound led to a longer shot by Nicolo Barella that goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo couldn’t save. Frattesi appeared attentive to the loose ball. He didn’t miss, he sent it to the net.

However, Verona had one more left with ten as Lazovic was sent off for protesting. A foul inside the area by Matteo Darmian was awarded a penalty. This was done by Henry, author of the previous tie. And your shot, which beat Yann Sommer, hit the right post. He didn’t come in.

The mistake plunged Verona, back into relegation, and relieved Inter, the winter champions.