MILAN – Inter suffered a 1-0 home defeat against Novara in their Week 23 match
of the 2011/12 Serie A season played this afternoon at the Stadio Giuseppe
Meazza.
Few emotions and many fouls made up the ingredients that characterised a first
half that ended with a penalty kick not awarded to Inter (for Porcari's foul on
Poli) and two hard challenges from Centurioni; first on Cambiasso (again in the
box) and then on Stankovic. In the second half, Lucio came close to opening the
scoring, but instead Novara took the honours thanks to a goal from
Caracciolo in the 56th minute. In the 80th minute the
visitors went a man down following the expulsion of Radovanovic for his second
yellow card, allowing the Nerazzurri to press even harder. But it was to no
avail, despite the crossbar hit by Sneijder and the last big chance for Pazzini
in injury time.
FIRST HALF - With Maicon suspended and Samuel injured, Ranieri relied on Zanetti in the right-back role and Chivu on the left with Cordoba and Lucio in central defence. Alvarez and Sneijder played behind centre forward Milito. With Mascara out for Novara, Jeda played alongside Caracciolo.
It was in the 6th minute that Inter created their first dangerous action in front of the opponent's goal; Chivu sent a cross into the box looking for Poli, but Ujkani confidently came out to claim the ball. Sneijder did not fare much better when, after some good work between Cambiasso and Alvarez, the Novara keeper closed the door on his shot. Alvarez and Stankovic combined in the opposition's half but Ujkani's defence did well to clear for a corner on 13 minutes, followed by a strong and determined run from a super Stankovic who served Milito, only to see El Principe's low cross in the box cleared by Lisuzzo with Alvarez lurking. Novara made their presence felt in the 22nd minute with a centrally placed header from Caracciolo that Julio Cesar handled without problems. Then Chivu and Sneijder created the best opportunity yet to put Inter ahead when the Romanian set up the Dutchman with a diagonal shot that Ujkani stretched to keep out of his net in the 25th minute. Then Novara responded with a rapid counterattack when Caracciolo beat Cordoba and Julio Cesar but only won a corner for his efforts. In the 35th minute a foul by Porcari (already on a yellow) on Sneijder gave a free kick to Inter; the Dutchman stepped up to take it himself but saw his effort blocked by Caracciolo in the wall.
The following foul, in the 36th minute, was committed by Garcia on Poli; the Argentine was looking for the ball in his own box but his tackle found the left leg of the Nerazzurri midfielder and brought him crashing to the ground. Russo failed to whistle for a penalty and allowed the game to play on. Ten minutes later Centurioni committed two more fouls – one on Cambiasso and then another on Stankovic in the same sequence – and still managed to escape going into the referee's book. Sneijder took the ensuing free kick but saw it blocked just before Russo whistled to end the half.
SECOND HALF – The second half began with Pazzini on in the place of Alvarez. In the 52nd minute a lovely touch from Cambiasso for Milito allowed the Argentine striker to jink past Morganella and send in a right-footed shot, only to find Ujkani ready with his response. Three minutes later Lucio had the opportunity to put the Nerazzurri ahead when he gathered Sneijder's ball in front of goal, but he found the Novara keeper again up to the task. All it took was one chance – a chance not exploited by Inter – to put Novara in the driver's seat; a pass from Jeda for Caracciolo saw the 'Airone' control the ball and beat Julio Cesar with a left-footer in the 56th minute with a curling shot.
Inter tried to respond through Stankovic, who gathered a rebound and attempted a right-footer from distance, but saw his effort go just wide of Ujkani's post. In the 62nd minute a recovered Forlan came on for Poli. Then Novara came dangerously close to doubling their advantage when Rigoni's low cross in Inter's box was just missed by a streaking Caracciolo. Forlan attempted to level the score with two long-distance efforts but without much luck. On 79 minutes Morganella tested Julio Cesar with his left-footer from outside the box and won a corner for the visitors. A minute later Novara found themselves down to ten men due to the expulsion of Radovanovic. In sequence, Stankovic and then Sneijder looked to put one past Ujkani for the Nerazzurri but things simply did not go their way, not even when a powerful shot from Sneijder smacked off the crossbar in the 88th minute, nor in stoppage time when Pazzini's shot on the turn could only find the Novara keeper. After three minutes of injury time the match finished at 0-1; Inter remain stuck at 36 points in the standings.
Inter 0-1 Novara (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Caracciolo 56.
Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 4 Zanetti, 2 Cordoba, 6 Lucio, 26 Chivu (Nagatomo 70); 5 Stankovic, 19 Cambiasso, 18 Poli (Forlan 62); 11 Alvarez (Pazzini 46), 10 Sneijder; 22 Milito.
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 17 Palombo, 20 Obi, 23 Ranocchia.
Coach: Claudio Ranieri.
Novara: 1 Ujkani; 4 Lisuzzo, 30 Centurioni, 28 Garcia; 15 Dellafiore (Morganella 14), 17 Porcari (Pesce 46), 23 Radovanovic, 10 Rigoni, 3 Gemiti (Paci 65); 27 Jeda; 29 Caracciolo.
Unused subs: 31 Fontana, 9 Rubino, 12 Gabriel Silva, 77 Rinaudo.
Coach: Emiliano Mondonico.
Referee: Carmine Russo (Nola).
Booked: Porcari 28, Ranovanovic 44, 80, Morganella 79.
Sent off: Radovanovic 80.
Added time: 2+3 minutes.
Attendance: 21,703.
