Torino 0 - 1 Inter Milan: Kondogbia has landed

A hard-fought match sees Inter once again win by 1-0 scoreline. Kondogbia and Handanovic each put in very solid shifts today in Turin.

Inter had the first real chance of the match after Palacio dispossessed Glik and Melo sent in a decent cross. Unfortunately, Icardi headed that chance over the bar.

Torino followed up a few minutes later with a couple of chances of their own. Bruno Peres made Juan Jesus look silly in the back and broke for a wide open shot (which, thankfully, he sent over the bar). Then, Benassi rattled Handanovic's goal after some more trouble-causing play from Peres.

Inter finally found a breakthrough in the 33rd minute, as Geoffrey Kondogbia scored his first official goal for Inter off a free kick which had been flicked on by Palacio. Kondogbia was basically left free to tap the ball in, and he did not throw away his shot. Inter carried that 1-0 lead into halftime.

A few minutes into the second half, Handanovic pulled off an incredible double save on Quagliarella and Belotti - both from less than six yards out. It was unbelievable. But, Batmanovic doesn't care about what you believe - he only cares about clean sheets.

The match carried on in a fairly balanced way for most of the second half, in which Inter and Torino each made their respective substitutions and, towards the end of the match, traded some decent scoring chances. Quagliarella made a cut through the Inter defense and fired on the turn, but Handanovic again made a great save. Adem Ljajic had a good chance for Inter right after that, but scuffed his shot.

In the dying minutes of the match, Inter's three-man back line executed Mancini's game plan to perfection. They kept a high line and played the trap beautifully. Handanovic was called upon to make one more save near the end of the match, but overall, the defense saw out the match very comfortably.

A few initial thoughts:

1. Kondogbia had his best game for Inter so far, and it wasn't even close. Even without the goal, Kondogbia showed how effective he can be in midfield today. That is reassuring.

2. Samir Handanovic is incredible. But this is something that's true 99% of the time. Let's hope that contract extension gets signed real soon.

3. Inter are showing that they can get the job done when it comes to both important matches and those which they should win. Torino had not lost at home yet this season, yet Inter came in and got a very important result.

4. Inter have won 7 matches now this season by a scoreline of 1-0. Clearly, creativity is a problem for this team at the moment. It will be interesting to see how Inter approach the transfer window regarding creative players - especially since they have the leverage of being at the top of the Serie A table this season.