Inter.it

Minute	Text commentary
45'	2 minutes of injury time added on at the end of the first half. Inter on the attack.
41'	Gladiator makes a trademark long pass forward to Bobo, who is anticipated by Kalac just inside the Perugia box. Kallon's follow-up shot takes a deflection. Corner.
39'	Bertini cautions Sogliano a horrible foul on Emre.
38'	Perugia nearly go three goals up... Toldo saves off the line from Tedesco.
34'	From a right-wing cross, Vryzas puts the Griffins 2-0 up with a near-post 'header' that sails over Toldo and goes in at the far post. But referee Bertini didn't spot that the 'header' was in fact a hand ball.
31'	Good chance for Inter. Cannavaro rises above the Perugia defence and beats Kalac to an Emre free kick, but heads over the bar.
29'	Kallon intercepts a ball on the edge of the Perugia box then advances into the area before sending a powerful right-footed shot wide of the far post.
25'	Blasi is cautioned for holding back Bobo Vieri just inside the Perugia half.
22'	Cordoba shows all his speed with a crucial intervention on the edge of the box to stop a goal-bound Miccoli.
17'	Emre takes on two opponents before passing forward to Vieri. On the edge of the box, Bobo feeds the ball through to Kallon in the area, who doesn't manage to get a shot on target.
14'	From 15 yards out, Bobo Vieri sends a shot over the Perugia bar after beating Milanese.
10'	Ze Maria smashes the spot kick into the top right-hand corner.
10'	Perugia are awarded a penalty after Cordoba handles the ball in his own area. Cordoba is cautioned by Bertini, but the Colombian defender's clearance from Tedesco's header was with his thigh.
6'	From an Emre corner, Kallon sends a header wide of Kalac's right-hand post. The Nerazzurri are showing good ball possession after being penned back in their own half in the opening minutes.
3'	Sogliano makes a tackle to stop Bobo Vieri in full flight towards the Perugia goal.
1'	It's a sunny day in Umbria for today's Serie A Week 17 match between Perugia and Inter. The home side kick off. FORZA NERAZZURRI!!!

Minute	Text commentary
51'	That's it. 4-1 to Perugia.
45'	6 minutes of injury time added on.
42'	Perugia substitution - Gatti on, Blasi off.
41'	A Morfeo header is miraculously saved off the line by Grosso.
40'	Perugia substitution - Cosmi replaces an impressive Miccoli with Berrettoni.
34'	Inter are given a penalty after Kalac brings down Vieri in the box. Bobo converts the spot kick. 4-1.
30'	Perugia substitution - Caracciolo on for Vryzas.
28'	It's going from bad to worse. Gigi Di Biagio is deservedly sent off for an ugly challenge on Fusani.
23'	Toldo pulls off a superb, acrobatic save from Miccoli, who curls a right-footed shot on target from inside the Inter area.
20'	Inter substitution - Marco Materazzi on for Sergio Conceicao.
19'	4-0. Vryzas scores his second of the game with a shot in at the far post after excellent work by Miccoli.
17'	Conceicao takes on three Perugia players before shooting from a central position on the edge of the box. The shot is too central and Kalac makes an easy save.
12'	Cuper makes his second substitution - Domenico Morfeo replaces Matias Almeyda. Materazzi is also warming up on the touchline.
10'	Fusani finds the bottom right-hand corner with a shot from 11 yards out after a well-worked move by Cosmi's men. 3-0.
8'	The ref must have heard us. Grosso is cautioned by Bertini for a two-footed challenge on Conceicao.
7'	For the nth time, Emre is brought down. No yellow card for Vryzas.
4'	Inter get the second period underway.
3'	Inter make a half-time substitution - Giovanni Pasquale comes on for Francesco Coco.
2'	Half time. 2-0 to the home side courtesy of two extremely debatable decisions by the referee. See you after the break.

Di Biagio	3.95 3.95
Vieri	5.16 5.16
Zanetti	4.99 4.99
Cordoba	5.06 5.06
Materazzi	4.84 4.84
Emre	6.6 6.6
Conceiçao	4.43 4.43
Toldo	4.7 4.7
Kallon	4.47 4.47
Pasquale	4.92 4.92
Coco	4.57 4.57
Morfeo	4.6 4.6
Almeyda	4.48 4.48
Cannavaro	5.66 5.66
Average rating	4.89

5	shots on target	4
4	shots off target	6
16	fouls committed	12
2	corners	3
3	offsides	2
27:27	ball possession	29:23

Cosmi vs. Inter and Cuper vs. Perugia : previous meetings

The Nerazzurri coach has won both of the previous encounters.
In detail:
2001/02 Serie A Perugia-Inter 0-2 ; 1-4

Perugia vs. Inter - former players and disciplinary situation

Perugia
Disqualified: Di Loreto, Obodo
Cautioned: Caracciolo, Milanese
Former players: Fusani (youth sector in 1998/99 season)
Milanese (23 appearances and 1 goal in official matches from January 1998 to June 1999)

Inter
Disqualified: No-one
Cautioned: Pasquale
Former players: Materazzi (108 appearances and 22 goals in official matches in 1995/96, from January 1997 to June 1998 and from 1999/00 to 2000/01)

2002/03 Nerazzurri side shows improvement on previous season

The current Inter side has racked up more points than at the same stage last season (36 compared to 35 in 2001/02), has won more matches (11 compared to 10), has drawn less (3 compared to 5) and has lost the same number of matches (2). The Inter side version 2002/03 has also scored more (33 goals to 31), and has conceded the same number of goals (16).

Perugia Vieri's second favourite target

Together with Bologna, Perugia are Christian Vieri's second favourite target in the Serie A, with 9 goals scored against each side. Verona are in first place in Vieri's personal table with 10 goals.
In chronological order, Vieri has scored against the Griffins in Lazio vs. Perugia (1998/99 Serie A, 1 goal), Inter- Perugia (1999/00 Serie A , 1 goal), Inter vs. Perugia (2000/01 Serie A, 1 goal), Perugia vs. Inter (2000/01, Serie A , 3 goals), Inter- Perugia (2001/02 Serie A, 2 goals) and Perugia vs. Inter (2001/02 Serie A, 1 goal).

Nerazzurri close to record no. of points at halfway stage

If Inter win against Perugia, the Nerazzurri will have a total of 39 points at the halfway stage of the season - equalling the record number of points amassed in the first half of a Serie A season since 3 points were awarded for a victory (since the 1994/95 season). The only other side to have notched the same number of points was Roma in 2000/01. The Giallorossi went on to win the title that season.

Inter a win away from 14th 'winter champions' title

Either Inter or cross-city rivals AC Milan will win the title of 'winter champions' on Sunday. Should both sides win their respective Serie A Week 17 matches, it will be the first time two teams have been crowned 'winter champions' since the 1976/77 season, when Juventus and Torino both had 25 points at the halfway stage (Juve went on to win the Scudetto that season, which was contested by 16 teams). There is a remote possibility that three sides could share the Serie A top spot at the halfway point in the current season - should Lazio win and both Milanese sides lose, all three teams would be top of the table with 36 points. The last time three teams shared first position midway through the domestic championship was back in the 1953/54 season - Inter, Juventus and Fiorentina were at the summit with 26 points and the Nerazzurri eventually won the league title. Inter will be crowned 'winter champions' for the 14th time if they win against Perugia. The Nerazzurri have proceeded to win the Scudetto on 7 occasions (1929/30, 1937/38, 1952/53, 1953/54, 1965/66, 1979/80, 1988/89), while they have failed to win the title in the other 6 seasons (1933/34, 1950/51, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1966/67 e 1990/91). Inter have therefore not won the title of 'winter champions' for 13 seasons.
In the 70 one-division Serie A championships contested so far, the side that finished the first half of the season in first place has gone on to win the title 46 times (65.7%), while the team that finished in second place at the halfway point has won the Scudetto on 17 occasions (24.3%). Third-placed sides at the halfway stage have won the title on 4 occasions (5.7%), while fourth-placed teams have gone on to win it 3 times (4.3%). 'Winter champions' in each season with 18 teams in the Serie A have won the Scudetto 23 times out of 34 (67.6%).
Since the Italian top flight returned to being an 18- team championship in 1988/89, 10 teams have won the Scudetto after claiming the top spot at the halfway point. The 4 teams that failed to do so were Inter in 1990/91 (Scudetto to Sampdoria), Fiorentina in 1998/99 (Scudetto to AC Milan), Juventus in 1999/00 (Scudetto to Lazio) and Roma in 2001/02 (Scudetto to Juventus).

No Perugia goal in Serie A for 206 minutes

Perugia haven't scored in either of their last two Serie A matches, losing 1-0 to Juventus at Renato Curi stadium and drawing 0-0 away to Udinese. Miccoli was the last player to score for the Umbrians in the 64th minute of their 3-1 defeat away to Brescia. Perugia under Serse Cosmi have never gone three championship matches without scoring.

wins(6) draws(5) defeats(2)

11 April 2004	2-3	24' Adriano, 52' Di Francesco, 60' Hubner, 88' Adriano, 90' Martins	fixture
19 January 2003	4-1	10' Ze Maria (R), 34' Vryzas, 55' Fusani, 64' Vryzas, 79' Vieri (R)	fixture
13 January 2002	0-2	58' Vieri, 74' Recoba	fixture
1 April 2001	2-3	21' Vieri, 44' Materazzi, 57' Vieri, 65' Vieri, 93' Vryzas	fixture
30 April 2000	1-2	28' Seedorf, 65' Recoba, 78' Amoruso	fixture
14 February 1999	2-1	16' Kaviedes, 78' Rapajc, 95' ig. Djorkaeff	fixture
2 February 1997	0-0
25 January 1981	0-2	19' Oriali, 75' Oriali
13 April 1980	0-0
4 February 1979	2-2	19' Altobelli, 36' Muraro, 53' Vannini, 90' Ceccarini
20 November 1977	1-1	22' Altobelli, 26' Speggiorin
6 February 1977	0-1	80' Muraro
2 May 1976	1-1	35' Fedele, 51' Ciccotelli

PERUGIA - The Nerazzurri fell to their heaviest defeat of the season so far on Sunday afternoon, losing 4-1 to Perugia at Renato Curi stadium. Cuper's troops were twice stunned on the break in the second period as the Griffins added two well-worked goals to the first two efforts which stemmed from two extremely debatable decisions by referee Paolo Bertini.

The first chance fell to the Nerazzurri in the 6th minute, Kallon heading an Emre corner wide of Kalac's right-hand post. But it was the Griffins who took the lead in the 10th minute when referee Bertini pointed to the penalty spot after Cordoba was judged to have handled the ball in his own area. The Colombian defender, who actually used his thigh to make a goal-line clearance from a Tedesco header, was booked by Bertini before Ze Maria smashed the spot kick into the top right-hand corner.

Inter came straight back at their opponents, Vieri sending a shot over the Perugia bar after beating Milanese in the 14th minute. Bobo was involved in a defence-splitting move a minute later. He fed the ball through to Kallon inside the area after some magic by Emre in the middle of the park, but the Sierra Leone striker failed to get a shot on target. Kallon had another chance on the half hour, but sent a powerful right-footed shot wide of the far post after intercepting a ball on the edge of the Umbrian box.

But Inter, who continued to dominate the first half in terms of ball possession, increasingly ran into difficulties in finding a way past Cosmi's very well-organised defensive unit, and Vryzas put the home side 2-0 up in the 34th minute with a near-post 'header' that sailed over Toldo and went in at the far post. Bertini didn't spot that the 'header' was in fact a hand ball. Heroics from Francesco Toldo prevented Perugia from going 3-0 up with a save off the line from Tedesco in the 38th minute.

If Perugia's first two goals were dubious, there was nothing wrong with the two second-half efforts. Cuper replaced Francesco Coco with Giovanni Pasquale at the beginning of the second period, then 10 minutes into the restart Perugia hit the Nerazzurri on the counter-attack and Fusani raced into the area to apply the final touch to a fine move, beating a man before shooting into the bottom right-hand corner from 11 yards out. Cuper made his second substitution directly after the third goal, bringing on Domenico Morfeo for Almeyda.

Vryzas scored his second of the game in the 64th minute with a shot that found the net at the far post after excellent work by an in-form Miccoli, and at 4-0 down, Cuper threw on Marco Materazzi for Sergio Conceiçao.

Things went from bad to worse when Gigi Di Biagio was deservedly given his marching orders in the 73rd minute for a sliding tackle on Fusani. Bobo Vieri scored a consolation goal for the Nerazzurri 11 minutes from time, converting a penalty after he was brought down in the box by Kalac.

Inter finish the first half of the Serie A season in second spot with 36 points from 17 matches.

starting lineups

KALAC	1 Toldo
SOGLIANO	4 Zanetti
VIALI	2 Cordoba
MILANESE	13 Cannavaro
ZE MARIA	77 Coco
TEDESCO	7 Conceiçao
BLASI	14 Di Biagio
FUSANI	25 Almeyda
GROSSO	5 Emre
MICCOLI	3 Kallon
VRYZAS	32 Vieri

substitutes

TARDIOLI	12 Fontana
SULCIS	26 Pasquale
LOUMPOUTIS	23 Materazzi
BERRETTONI	21 Beati
PAGLIUCA	22 Okan
CARACCIOLO	30 Martins
GATTI	10 Morfeo

Final score

19 January 2003 15:00

starting lineups

substitutes