Difficult match for Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri at the Meazza, saved first by Martinez in the 87th minute and then by the defender in the 110th minute
L’Inter beat 2-1 the Parma in the eighths of Italian Cupbut had to use i extra time to clinch a place in the top eight. At the Meazza, Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri went under in the 38th minute for a winning shot by Juricfinding the equalizer only three minutes from the ninetieth with Lautaro Martinez. It came to overtime Acerbi’s winning goal in the 110th minute with a header from the edge of the area that overtook Buffon.
THE MATCH
Two hours of gameplay, much of it spent chasing. The first Inter seasonal into Italian Cupas is now almost customary, he passed the turn dragging on to the quarterfinals but having to take advantage of thirty minutes more despite a lower category opponent. At the Meazza the round of 16 against Parma was more tricky than expected, won 2-1 in comeback after saving themselves three minutes from the end in regulation with the usual Lautaro Martinez.
A category of difference that was not seen for large stretches at the Meazza. The team of Inzaghinot in the best version in the starting eleven, in the first part of the match he maintained control of the game, but without accelerating and being overwhelmed by the offensive pressure of the Parma of Pecchia. Apart from a couple of chances in the area for Lautaro and Gagliardini, who from the edge gave the illusion of a goal to the 50,000 at San Siro, Inter didn’t come in with Buffon’s side with conviction and conceded the goal in the 38th minute. Parma with a full neck at the top of the posts Juric (replaced for the injured Man) who silenced the stadium. Not only that, before the break it was still Onana who avoided worse trouble on a conclusion from Benedyczak.
I whistles that accompanied Inzaghi’s nerazzurri to rest they didn’t have the gift of awakening the pride of Inter’s starting eleven who also started playing under the rhythm in the second half and with many technical errors, forcing the coach to make a triple substitution with the simultaneous entry of Bellanova, Dzeko and Dimarco (from Central Defensive Third). Own Marco’s with a hasty corner kick in the 68th minute he launched Parma on the counterattack 3 against 1, physically defused by Bellanova but technically by a conceptually wrong pass from Barnabas. From the 70th minute onwards, the match turned into a siege on Buffon’s goal and it couldn’t have been otherwise for Inter with Dzeko, Lautaro, Correa and Gosens on the pitch at the same time.
In the last twenty minutes the balls brought into the penalty area of the Parma they were different, looking for the winning deflection that first Gagliardini, then Dzeko and Lautaro can’t find either from open play or from set pieces. A matter of timing, detail and precision that dragged the match to the final minutes with a San Siro increasingly seething with anger and haste. It took a high ball for Dzeko to be rejected by the defense and the winning “rebound” taken to the limit by Martinez (87′), with a deflection by Osorio, to drag the game into extra time, a half-success anyway for Parma obtained thanks to a Buffon’s miracle on Dzeko one minute later.
In extratime the protagonist was Marco’s who for all the extra thirty minutes showed excellent technical qualities between conclusions, crosses and precision stops. With a mix of these things, in the 110th minute he started the action of the winning goal thanks to a header by Acerbi from the edge of the area after the rejection of Buffoon on the outside’s cross. A strange goal, but essential to complete the comeback and drag Inter to the quarter-finals.
REPORT CARDS
Dumpries 4.5 – Transfer market rumors don’t help, but the Dutch certainly didn’t come back brilliantly from the World Cup in Qatar. On the right he has space, but he often wastes it with bad choices or red pencil technical errors.
Martinez 6 – In evenings like this, the paw of the champion (of the world) becomes almost an obligation. Lautaro spends the game battling against the central Parma, losing almost all the duels, but then finds the winning play two minutes from the ninetieth that changes the history of the match. In extra time, however, he wasted another couple of chances.
Goshen 5 – Matches like these would be useful for those who, like the German, are looking for minutes and space to make their candidacy count. The outside, on the other hand, shows off a test below his own possibilities, without ideas or opportunities.
Legal 7 – The Eurogol in destiny. He starts from the bench, but takes over already in the first half and slips into the top corner with a powerful and precise conclusion. Not only that, with his physicality the pressure in the middle of the Parma field was even more convincing.
Buffoon 7 – Back on the pitch after three months in the pits due to injury, the goalkeeper experienced a high-level evening like in the old days, albeit with some indecision about high balls. He can do nothing on Martinez’s equalizer goal, but he is miraculous in the ninetieth on Dzeko.
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THE TABLE
INTER 2-1 PARMA aet
International (3-5-2): Onana 6; D’Ambrosio 5.5 (35′ st Acerbi 6.5), De Vrij 6, Bastoni 6 (22′ st Dimarco 7); Dumfries 4.5 (22nd Bellanova 6), Gagliardini 5, Asllani 5, Mkhitaryan 5 (22nd Dzeko 6), Gosens 5 (35th Darmian sv); Correa 4.5, Martinez 5 (7′ st Screen sv). Available: Cordaz, Brazao, Curatolo, Zanotti, Carboni. All.: Increase
Parma (4-3-3): Buffon 7; Del Prato 6.5, Balogh 7, Osorio 7, Valenti 6.5 (1′ sts Circati sv); Estevez 6.5 (28′ st Camara 6), Bernabé 6 (35′ st Mihaila 6.5), Sohm 6.5; (35′ st Hainaut sv), Vazquez 6.5, Benedyczak 6.5 (28′ st English 5.5), Man 6 (26′ Juric 7). Available: Chichizola, Corvi, Coulibaly, Ansaldi, Bonny, Charpentier, Tutino. All.: Pecchia 7.
Referee: Border
Markers: 38′ Juric (P), 42′ st Martinez (I), 5′ st Acerbi (I)
Ammonite yourself: Dimarco (I); Barnabas, Camara (P)
Expelled: nobody
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OPTA STATISTICS
• Inter have progressed from the round of 16 in all of the last nine Coppa Italia editions and in each of the most recent three by going into extra time (vs Fiorentina, Empoli and Parma).
• For the fifth time in a row, Inter have won a match that came in extra time: four times in the Coppa Italia and once in the Supercoppa Italiana.
• Inter’s equalizing goal came with the Nerazzurri’s first shot on target after 87 minutes and 16 seconds.
• In 90 minutes, Parma have not lost any of their last six away games against Inter in all competitions (W1, D5 in regular time).
• Lautaro Martinez scored in double figures in all competitions for the fourth consecutive season.
• Two of the four Serie A players with double figures of goals this season across all competitions play for Inter (Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez, as well as Osimhen and Nzola).
• Since early October, Lautaro Martinez has been involved in 11 goals across all competitions, more than any other Serie A player.
• Since his debut in the Coppa Italia (January 2019), Lautaro Martínez is the Inter player who has scored the most goals in the competition: six, all in home games.
• Between Gianluigi Buffon’s first appearance in the Italian Cup (Venice-Parma, 3 September 1997) and today’s date, 25 years and 129 days have passed.
• Gianluigi Buffon played his 50th career match at San Siro, between Italy, Parma and Juventus; the first dates back to 22 December 1996, in a win by Parma against Milan (1-0, goal by Stanic).
• Francesco Acerbi hadn’t scored a goal since 30 April 2022, scoring in the 90th minute in Lazio’s final 4-3 win against Spezia.
• Before Stanko Juric, the last Parma player to score away against Inter was Gervinho, in a 2-2 draw on 31 October 2020 in Serie A.
