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Lecce vs Inter Milan - Another disappointing draw

Lineups:

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Lecce's starting 11 with subs

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Inter's starting 11 with subs

A defensively solid Lecce held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Via del Mare in Matchday 20. Inter dominated possession throughout the match but quality chances were few and far between. Both goals came in the later stages of the match, with Alessandro Bastoni opening the scoring in the 71st minute for Inter but Marco Mancosu quickly equalizing in the 76th.

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Lautaro battles for the ball against two Lecce players

Despite a strong start from Inter, Lecce could, and perhaps should have taken the lead in the 7th minute. On a counter attack, a cross from the right side of the pitch was first missed by a sliding Khouma Babacar in the center of the box before Marco Mancosu skied the bouncing ball from the left side of the six yard box. Inter began to look nervous for a few minutes, but then regained control and kept possession in Lecce’s half by the 15th minute mark. Inter first big chance came in the 19th minute. From the left sideline Cristiano Biraghi sent a cross to Lukaku in the box, and the Belgian settled the ball and sent it into the back of the net. The referee, however, disallowed the goal after he judged Lukaku to have fouled the Lecce goalkeeper, Gabriel. I failed to see any sort of infraction on the replay, but the whistle was blown before the ball went into the goal, so VAR could not have been used. Then, less than a minute later, Giulio Donati left his studs in Nicolò Barella’s calf on a follow through of a pass. The referee gave a Donati a yellow, but checked the VAR monitor. Surprisingly, he kept the punishment as a yellow card, but to me it was a clear red, as Donati’s studs wee unnecessarily high and endangered Barella. Those were two important refereeing decisions that went against Inter, and, as a referee myself, I felt that both were wrong. Nonetheless, the match remained 11v11 and 0-0. In the 29th minute Marcelo Brozović played a one two with Lukaku, ending with the Belgian laying the ball of to Brozović at the top of the box. The Croatian struck a powerful first time effort that clanged off the upper right post. Brozović had another chance in the 31st minute. Lautaro played a pass to him in the box, and Brozović hit a low shot that was saved by Gabriel. The rebound bounced up and Brozović headed it back towards the goal, but again Gabriel made the stop. As you may suspect, Inter were still controlling the ball, but could not generate much other than crosses. Then, in the 47th minute, Lecce were awarded a penalty. From a cross, Babacar headed the ball down into Stefano Sensi’s side. The referee pointed to the stop, thinking the ball had hit Sensi’s arm. He soon checked VAR, however, and reversed his decision, as Sensi had his arm tucked in. Unless footballers are now expected to remove their arms before matches, there was nothing else Sensi could have done, so no PK was the correct decision. The half ended soon after. Despite the 0-0 scoreline, the first half was entertaining, with a large number of controversial refereeing incidents. Inter had 69% possession but could only place two shots on target, as Lecce defended well, forcing Inter into numerable crosses that were all caught by Gabriel, who was like a squirrel in his box, jumping about when a cross was sent in.

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The "foul" on Lukaku’s goal

Lecce started the second half confidently, but could not find a shock lead. Inter remained dominant in the possession category. Inter was still thwarted by Lecce’s defense, and even more so now. The visitors did, however, finally break the deadlock in the 71st minute. A cross from the left side of the field was nodded in by Bastoni in the left side of the six yard box. This was the youngsters’ first goal of the season, and he had only been on the field for a matter of minutes before scoring. Just six minutes later, though, Lecce equalized with Marco Mancosu’s sixth tally of the season. On the left side of the box, Žan Majer sent a cross to the top of the six yard box. Mancosu beat Bastoni to the ball and directed it in to the center of the goal, leaving Samir Handanović helps less. Lecce almost took the lead in the 81st minute when a Filippo Falco free kick from just out of the box nicked the near crossbar. Inter looked to regain its lead but the match ended in a 1-1 tie.

This draw deals a blow to Inter’s title hopes, as 1st placed Juventus has moved four points clear and Lazio can overtake Inter for 2nd if the Rome side win its game in hand, home against Verona. Meanwhile, in this match, Inter were very disappointing, especially in the second half. Inter had almost nothing going forward, except the goal which came out of nowhere. Statistically, Inter had 66% possession and 24 attempts, most of which were untroublesome for Lecce’s keeper, Gabriel. Inter also had a good deal of crosses but Gabriel was able to keep them from becoming dangerous almost every time. This match, and the second half in particular, shows the need for a playmaker in the squad, such a Christian Eriksen. Inter will hope to bounce back from two successive Serie A draws with a home match against Cagliari on Sunday the 26th.

Contrastly, Lecce snap a four match losing skid and also pick up a moral victory, as this is only the second away match all season where Inter has dropped points. Also, although Lecce has not won at home yet, it has held both Inter and Juventus to draws in the south of Italy. Lecce was excellent in defense, allowing Inter little space in the final third in the first half, but none in the second. Offensively, Lecce took advantage of its rare ventures forward, and scored on one of its two shots on target. Lecce, in 17th, remain in a relegation fight, as only one point separates it from Brescia in 18th, and three from 16th placed Sampdoria. Next week, Lecce travels to fellow promoted side Hellas Verona at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi on Sunday

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