Internazionale cover the cracks by beating Siena

By S.Aravind
January 11 2007

Internazionale are slowly turning into the “Real Madrid” of Serie A in many aspects as they beat Siena 2-0 Giuseppe Meazza in a much maligned manner thanks to goals from Burdisso and Crespo .

The reason for the comparison with Madrid is because Inter are the only powerhouse in Serie A capable of competing in the Champions League – only club in Serie A which can match the bids of their rivals in Europe – only club in Serie A who are willing to go and buy every big name out there and to top all of this, Inter play some dire football at the moment just like the present Madrid you could say.

Getting back to the game, Inter, like most of the league leaders in Europe, didn’t go for the popular 4-4-2 and started out with a diamond formation in the midfield consisting of Stankovic at the top, Viera and Zanetti in the middle with Cambiasso protecting the defense.

Siena on the other hand have to be credited for their positive approach as they played a direct game with the Antonini and the skilful Konko out wide, aptly supported by Frick and Locatteli up front.

The first half was forgettable except for the goal, a good header by Burdisso in the 10th minute from Stankovic’s corner. Inter and its golden boys of the past like Viera, Stankovic, Crespo etc were just feeling Siena out with simple passing around the midfield and then the long punt to Ibrahimovic in vain. Inter’s stars simply lacked the appetite you could say in patches as instances where Stankovic and Ibrahimovic muffed up a free kick outside the box and glared at each other while Siena broke. You could understand the frustration of Inter’s strikers as Crespo barely touched the ball in the 1st half while Zlatan was feeded with scraps. Siena kept huffing and puffing and got the obvious chance every hard working team gets out of nowhere as the talented Congolese midfielder, Konko left Grosso for dead and cut back only for Locatteli to poorly toe poke it. Inter were playing without a drive and spark in their midfield and it showed when their 1st shot on target came from their defensive midfielder Cambiasso’s 35 yard slider right into Manninger’s arms. Justifiably so, Siena finally made most of Inter’s complacency by dominating the proceedings in the last 10 minutes of the 1st period while Materazzi and Burdisso held the defense well.

Right at the start of the 2nd half, the perseverance of Siena paid off, as Konko once again was the thorn in the back of Inter’s defense. A long ball into the box found him while Maicon was slow to react and held him back. The referee pointed to the spot straight where Frick’s hop step and shoot penalty was easily saved as Cesar guessed the right way. There went Siena’s hopes of getting back into this game as in the 54th minute, Inter pounced on the luck these rich powerful teams usually get as Crespo made the most of a lucky punt which landed right on his feet and he chipped it brilliantly over Manninger from an acute angle.2-0 Inter and game was pretty much over by all accounts by the then.

The 2nd goal finally woke up Inter and its stars as they started combining well. Stankovic picked up the ball and made a 30-yard dazzling sprint down the right flank before launching the cross of the day to Crespo in the box, only for his 1st touch to let him down. Viera then beat 5 men around him with a sequence of quick footwork on the ball and it was a treat to watch the ex Arsenal stalwart finally let his football do the talking than his dramatics off the ball in the game. The game’s quality also started to improve as it was end-to-end stuff eventually with both clubs smelling blood. Tackles flew in,tempers started to rise and during high commotion, Siena were like a dying snake then with little venom left in it and even that was snuffed out when Walter Samuel coolly made a superb challenge on Frick’s 1 on 1 with the keeper.

As the final whistle was blown, Inter’s players walked off in a mood that doesn’t actually depict their performance or potential as a team. The league leaders didn’t exactly set the world alight or send warning signals to their rivals in Europe. One has to under-estimate Internazionale in his own peril as with the likes of Figo, Solari, Toldo, Adriano, and Recoba in the fringes of the first team, they can still do a whole lot better.

The result of this game in some ways added to the woes of Italian Football viewer ship, as at present, the 19-point gap between Siena and Inter isn’t enough to describe the big gap in terms of quality between these two teams. No one would have believed after watching this game that the 9th placed Siena are still a just a win away from a place in Europe. I guess that’s the Serie A for you.