Brozovic brace gives Inter 2-1 win at Benevento

In the span of two minutes, Marcelo Brozovic put Inter Milan up by two … in the first half.

Usually waiting until late in the second half to score and put games away, the Nerazzurri got goals in the 19^th and 21^st minutes from Brozovic at the Stadio Ciro Vigo in the south of Italy to pace Inter to a 2-1 win over Serie A bottom team Benevento.

The first half strikes were the first since Mauro Icardi’s strike in Inter’s 2-0 win over SPAL on Sept. 10.

Inter’s offense maintained pressure against the defensive backline of Benevento from the start of the first half.

Milan Skriniar nearly picked up his second goal as a Nerazzurri in the 9^th minute, but his delivery was a little weak and right into the hands of Belec.

Brozovic scored his first on a cross from Danilo D’Ambrosio that was rocketed past Belec. It was Yuto Nagatomo who started the play with a feed into D’Ambrosio that freed him to make the cross to Brozovic.

He wasted no time in getting his second — again assisted by D’Ambrosio — with a shot from the left side.

Benevento came alive after Brozovic’s second goal and had one shot by Memushaj rebounded a shot from the crossbar into the back of the net, but was ruled off-side in the 25^th minute.

Marco D’Alessandro broke free of Inter’s defense but Samir Handanovic stepped off his line and cut the angle forcing the ball out of play.

In the 33^rd minute, Icardi played a nice ball past Belec for what should have been the third goal of the half, but he was ruled off-side.

But, D’Alessandro scored Benevento’s second goal this season after some confusion in the Inter defense allowed the striker to beat an off-side trap and to slide a ball off the fingertips of Handanovic and off the post into the back of the net, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the 42th minute.

In the first half, Inter nearly doubled the possession of Benevento and outshot them, 11-7. All of Inter’s shots on target (8) were from Skriniar and Brozovic, according to WhoScored.com.

In the second half, Benevento stepped up their attack, peppering Handanovic with a few shots midway into the half.

Inter’s defense seemed put back on its heels more often than not, but Benevento’s lack of attacking prowess seemed to be the saving grace for Luciano Spalletti’s side.

Vittorio Parigini made nice attempts into the back half of the field, but lacking any other attacking option, substitute Roberto Gagliardini nullified the attack with a pair of slide-tackles.

Achraf Lazaar had a good run in the 92^nd minute, but found no support to off-load a pass to and was stripped by Dalbert. D’Alessandro made an attempt in extra time, but his shot was weak and went right to Handanovic.

The loss denied Benevento from their first points of the season as they continue to inhabit the bottom of the Serie A table.

Inter gets a week off before Derby week begins as the Nerazzurri will take on AC Milan on Oct. 15 at the San Siro.

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Highlights

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Gallery

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Serie A

Oct. 1, 2017

Inter Milan 2, Benevento Calcio 1

Benevento 1 0 — 1

Inter Milan 2 0 — 2

First half: Brozovic (19’) INT, Brozovic (21’) INT, D’Alessandro (42’) BENE.

Cautions: INT — Vecino, Valero, Miranda; BENE — Costa, Lombardi.

BENEVENTO: 1 Belec, 3 Letizia, 6 Djimsiti, 7 D'Alessandro, 8 Cataldi, 14 Viola, 20 Memushaj, 21 Costa, 23 Venuti, 33 Iemmello, 87 Lombardi.

Bench: 22 Brignoli, 4 Del Pinto, 11 Coda, 13 Chisbah, 17 Di Chiara, 18 Gyamfi, 26 Parigini, 32 Puscas, 77 Lazaar, 90 Armenteros, 95 Gravillon.

Coach: Marco Baroni

INTER: 1 Handanovic, 9 Icardi, 11 Vecino, 20 B. Valero, 25 Miranda, 33 D'Ambrosio, 37 Skriniar, 44 Perisic, 55 Nagatomo, 77 Brozovic, 87 Candreva.

Bench: 27 Padelli, 46 Berni, 5 Gagliardini, 10 J. Mario, 13 Ranocchia, 17 Karamoh, 21 Santon, 23 Eder, 29 Dalbert, 99 Pinamonti.

Coach: Luciano Spalletti

Referee: Doveri

Assistants: De Meo, Di Vuolo

Fourth Official: Fourneau

VAR Operators: Valeri, Giallatini