Match Report: Inter steal a point after brilliant comeback

After 45 minutes of abysmal play across the board, the nerazzurri showed their mettle in the second half by storming back in the last half hour to claim a point in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Lazio.

Lazio's Felipe Anderson opened his scoring account just before the two minute mark after a poor clearance by the Inter back four.

Supporters at the San Siro were left to expect the worse when Anderson nearly netted his second a few minutes later; the back four visibly struggled throughout the first half, while Palacio and Icardi were ineffective on the other end as well.

Anderson finally got his double about eight minutes before the break, when he picked up the ball near midfield and made a brilliant solo run which ended with him cooly slotting the ball past Handanovic and into the bottom corner.

If Inter were to salvage any points in this match, it was clear they would need a spark. They finally got one when Mateo Kovacic netted his second goal in as many games with a gorgeous volley just after the hour mark.

Rodrigo Palacio put in the equalizer about fifteen minutes later off a fantastic Federico Bonazzoli free kick which was headed across the box by Danilo D'Ambrosio.

Kovacic came agonizingly close to scoring the winner in the waning minutes, but his snap header was brilliantly saved by Lazio keeper Frederico Marchetti.

Fans will be left to wonder if Medel's absence from the starting eleven affected this outcome. That said, Mancini was brilliant with his substitutions in the second half, as Medel and Bonazzoli each impacted the match significantly when they came on.

As the winter break begins, Inter now sit 11th in the Serie A table, six points adrift of third place and nine points clear of the relegation zone. While most of Mancini's attention during the coming week will be on developing a strategy for the transfer period, he must keep in the back of his mind Inter's next match, an important one against Juventus on January 6th.

MATCH INFO:

Inter 2-2 Lazio

Scorers: Felipe Anderson 2', 37'; Kovacic 66'; Palacio 80'

Inter: Handanovic; D'Ambrosio (Campagnaro 90'), Ranocchia, Juan Jesus, Nagatomo; Guarin (Bonazzoli 75'), Kovacic, Kuzmanovic, Dod (Medel 45'); Icardi, Palacio

Lazio: Marchetti; Basta, De Vrij, Cana, Radu; Parolo, Ledesma (Gonzalez 82'), Lulic (Onazi 64'); Mauri, Anderson; Klose (Djordjevic 56')