Sensi sends the Nerazzurri to the quarter-finals in extra time

the match
It’s never a good sign when a team loses a player after two turns on the clock. That’s what happens to Inter, not even the time for a good understanding to be on the pitch and the immediate stopping of Tucu Correa. A very stark contrast to Romagnoli and the gloom of pain for the Argentine who leaves the field in tears and makes way for Alexis Sanchez. Worse than this cannot begin, but it is also true that sometimes something very positive is born out of a negative circumstance.

Sanchez then. Inside the Chilean without heating, but in this period, Nino Maravilla fearlessly defies the laws of physics and biology. He turns everything he touches into gold, and treats the ball with an easy to disarm. So it is Sanchez who puts his team ahead with a perfect free trip and a header that hits Dumfries’ cross. The goal is beautiful and the movement is beautiful, the kind that Inter usually manage when they have the whole team, a circumstance that is not so in this case.

Among the untouchables, there is only Lautaro on the field, who needs to play (and possibly score), and the rest of this Inter is an unprecedented combination. Even after Sanchez got up to enter, it’s impressive to take a look at the Nerazzurri bench where there are three top-ranked defenders plus Barilla, Calhanoglu and Dzeko to name a few. Brozovic is neither on the bench nor on the field and that makes us understand once again how irreplaceable the Croatian is in a maneuver on a San Siro evening that is not one of the last matches. None of the Gagliardini, Vecino, and Vidal possess properties that can even vaguely call Brozo. Other solutions are sought and found, but it’s never the same music.

Empoli were also put on the field in the first half, which ends with Inter leading 1-0. Andrezzoli, however, sends a squad full of quality to the field, with forwards who have given and will give the likes of Pinamonte and Cutrone, as well as the original revelations behind them. if it was

He plays bravely even in the middle of the field, where there are not always the right distances between Inter fans and, for obvious reasons, they are not always found by heart. In the middle of the field, the Tuscans play evenly, on the wings there is a spread of hosts and it is no coincidence that playing Inter’s advantage arose precisely from the initiative of the winger (Dumfries). From there into the second half, chances were clear only with Dumfries (a skewed shot) and Lotaro (a double close shot that Forlan rejected), as well as some sporadic threats from Radu’s bits.

Finding the right middle ground between immediate needs and the thought of the next championship match, Andreazzoli revolutionized the team in the intervening period, changing three at once. He understood that he could try to gamble on quality, so he focused on Henderson and Ritchie. The first minutes of the second half proved he was right, because apart from a two-step (high) header by Ranocchia, it’s the Tuscans who take the wheel and drive at their own pace.

Nothing could be surprised if the increasingly self-confident Empoli went to take the draw thanks to a newcomer, Bajrami. A play of its own, a left-footed epilogue ends at the corner with surgical precision. Far from random, far from isolated loop. The equal goal comes at the end of a quarter of an hour. Empoli played it perfectly, with a great team atmosphere and charming quality.

Inzaghi also tries to change his side, casting at Barella and Calhanoglu but they don’t get in as effectively as the opponents. A couple of Nerazzurri conclusions, nothing special. Then the perfect murder of the Tuscans. First, Sacchi fires a penalty due to a non-existent handball by Dumfries, then takes it off but does not detract from the enthusiasm of Empoli, who takes the lead with a header from Cutrone who hits the crossbar and then onto Rado’s heel and enters the goal.

Since playing in order and thinking is pointless, Inter threw the Rage card on the table. With Dzeko on the field attacking with his head down. It may all seem useless but when your 90s are about to end

The shot that shoots everything is that of Ranucchia, who turns in the opponent’s area into a striker and goes for a 2-2 shot that pays for overtime despite the suspense of a goal canceled in Sanchez due to offside by Dzeko.

Inzaghi asks his people to find balance and they are listened to. The first extra time follows the trend of the first half, with Inter becoming more self-confident and more determined in their search for the opponent’s goal. Empoli’s restart was less clever, and it was certainly tried by the second half, which played at a rate of a thousand per hour. Positioned in front of the opponent’s area, Inter again took the lead at the end of the first overtime. True, to be precise, from Sensei who just entered, the first scream of a complex season thus far and a piece of the match no less difficult to climb.

Reflections loomed on both sides, little emotion in the second overtime. Inter have always practiced possession of the ball they manage this season in a smooth and useful way, in Empoli the enthusiasm of the newcomers is no longer enough. Thus, with much more effort than expected and with the help of a player like Sensei who already has the bag in his hand, Inter pass the turn. The winner of Rome Lecce awaits her, perhaps one of the many matches of the heart.

report cards
Sanchez 7 – Once upon a time there was a sad and indignant player who always came in and out of the field with his head down, now there is a confused dwarf who excels at magic plays and scores important goals. But this time it is not enough.
Vidal 6,5 – It seemed he should try his hand as a director, and instead leave that job to Ficino and work for Vidal, then recover and start over. He walked out very angry because he knew he wasn’t worth a replacement.
Dumfries 6 – Whenever there is a running sprint, he is always ready. Faster than anyone else, and often very straightforward in putting the ball in the middle.
Forlan 6.5 – The first official minutes of the season and the immediate impact with the San Siro, an evening he honors by opposing the opponent’s many conclusions to the best of his ability.
Aslani 6.5 – He gave positive signals in his earlier editions, he confirmed them at least in part on this Milan evening, always profitably inserting himself between the lines.
Martinez 6 – It is a strange period, because if, on the one hand, he proves that he knows how to make himself available to the team even at the stage of no possession, on the other hand he has to find accuracy in the conclusions.
Demarco 6 – His coach continues to favor him as a central defender and the boy adapts hard, even if in this way he loses that dynamic that could be very useful.
neighbor 5 – He continues to prove himself an outsider to the rest of the team, and it’s not clear if it’s due to his responsibility or to a deteriorating relationship with the manager.
Bjermy 7 – He immediately begins to draw high-quality plays that give confidence to the team, and it’s almost natural that he’s the one to score 1-1.
Cotron 7 – The first half of the great sacrifice, then in the second half he returns with greater inspiration and from the header the goal was born 2-1.
frog 6.5 – He struggled a lot for the 90 minutes running after Cutrone, then eventually just invented the kind of goal that a defender scores once in a lifetime.
Sensi 6.5 – Everyone wonders why he entered the field after he was actually sold to Sampdoria. Several mistakes in the first matches, then here’s the 3-2 goal that turns the evening around.

Table
Inter 3-2 Empoli
Inter (3-5-2): Rado 6 D’Ambrosio 6, Ranocchia 6.5, Dimarco 6; Dumfries 6, Gagliardini 5 (32′ st Dzeko 6), Vicino 5 (19′ st Barella 6), Vidal 6,5 (19′ st Calhanoglu 5), Darmian 6 (19′ st Perisic 6); Correa sv (5′ pt Sanchez 7), L. Martinez 6 (Sensei score 6,5). Coach S. Inzaghi 6. AvailableHandanovic, Cordaz, De Vrij, Kolarov, Skriniar, Bastogne.
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Forlan 6.5 Viamose 6 (26 Stojanovic Street 6), Viti 6, Romagnoli, 6 Marchesa 6 (40 Ismagli Street 6); Zurkowski 5.5 (1′ st Ricci 6.5), Stulac 6.5, Bandinelli 5.5 (1′ st Henderson 6.5); Aslani 6.5 (7′ Sts Fizzini 5.5); Pinamonti 5.5 (1′ st Bajrami 7), Cutrone 7. Coach Andreazzoli 6.5. Available MP, Ojkani, Damiani, Tonelli, Risa, Pezula.
Rule: bags
Signs: 13 ‘pt Sanchez (I), 16’ st Bajrami (E), 31 ‘st aut. Radu (E), 45′ st Ranocchia (I), 15’ pts Sensi (I)
ammonites: Ficino (I), Romagnoli (I)
Fired:-

statistics
Inter will play the Italian Cup quarter-finals for the 47th time and for the eighth consecutive season.
For the second consecutive season, Inter have qualified for the Italian Cup quarter-finals through extra time (versus Fiorentina in 2020/21): the Nerazzurri have passed the round on four of the last six occasions they have played overtime. Time in the Italian Cup.
Inter have 20 seasonal goalscorers, more than any other team in the top five European leagues given all competitions.
Inter have not lost in 11 matches in the Coppa Italia against Empoli, thanks to 10 wins and a draw – the Tuscan team that the Nerazzurri have faced several times without losing in the competition.
Alexis Sanchez scored again in the Coppa Italia 4,291 days after the first match and until tonight was the only time: it was on April 21, 2010 in a Udinese shirt (against Roma).
Alexis Sanchez has effectively contributed five goals in his last seven games for Inter in all competitions (four goals, one pass), as many participations as in the previous twenty-five (three goals, two goals).
Denzel Dumfries is the second Inter player to have provided at least one assist in three different competitions this season (Serie A, Champions League, Coppa Italia), after Matteo Darmian (Serie A, Champions, Supercoppa).
With Nadim Bajrami’s goal, Empoli scored against Inter in the Coppa Italia 33 years, 11 months and 9 days after the last time (February 10, 1988, Giuseppe Incochetti).
Nadim Bagrami has scored eight goals this season considering all competitions, except for Lorenzo Pellegrini and Mario Pasalic (both nine) among the Serie A midfielders.
Andrea Ranocchia’s last two goals in the Coppa Italia came from the 80th minute onwards.
Empoli have been eliminated in all of the last five editions of the Coppa Italia in which they have reached the Round of 16, having qualified in the quarter-finals on three of the previous six occasions.