MILAN – Inter came back from a goal down once again to collect all three points at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, as they defeated Cesena 2-1 in Week 35 Serie A 2011/12.
The first half was a one-sided affair with the Nerazzurri doing everything but score. The goal did come after 57 minutes, but it was Cesena who found the back of the net. It all happened in the space of two minutes: Ceccarelli gave Cesena the lead, helped by a deflection off Nagatomo, Obi responded with a little help from Von Bergen to bring the scores level at 1-1. Then Stramaccioni reshuffled Inter: Pazzini and Alvarez made way for Milito and Zarate, and it was the Argentine pair who sparked off the victory with Inter's second goal as Zarate hit the match-winner, taking the Nerazzurri into fourth position in the league table (with 55 points) as we await the outcome of the evening kick-off between Udinese and Lazio.
FIRST HALF – To face a Cesena side which has already mathematically been relegated, Stramaccioni rested Julio Cesar (elbow injury) and Milito, fielding Castellazzi between the posts and Pazzini as lone striker playing in front of Alvarez and Sneijder. As Zanetti was injured Cambiasso took over the captaincy. Stankovic was suspended.
Inter bared their teeth immediately, creating problems for the Cesena defence in the 4th minute when Guarin won back a ball and played it to Maicon who set Pazzini up. The striker tried to put the ball away but found Antonioli well prepared. Guarin tried a long-range shot on 7 minutes, but following that Cesena pulled themselves together and attacked Inter in front of goal: on 11 minutes Santana's shot was on target but Castellazzi dived to make the save. Cambiasso picked up a ball in the 14th minute and found Nagatomo in space, he easily passed Von Bergen, forcing Antonioli to punch his attempt away from the goalmouth. Alvarez showed his skills as he dribbled, ran, shot and provided inspiration for his team, then on 17 minutes he narrowly missed the near post with a daisy-cutter. A timely dash off his line by Antonioli kept Inter from taking the lead in the 21st minute, when Guana's error fell to Maicon and the 'Colossus' drove the ball in low for Pazzini. The Nerazzurri striker was deceived by the speed of the ball and slammed his shot against the Cesena keeper. After a one-two with Alvarez it was Lucio's turn to have a shot on 28 minutes, but his effort was narrowly wide. Inter kept piling on the pressure and looked convincing as they persevered in their hunt for a goal: Sneijder in the 37th and Pazzini in the 38th minute were denied on both occasions by Antonioli (parrying on the right from the Dutchman's long-range shot and pushing Pazzo's header from an offside position over the bar). In the last minute of the first half it was Inter once again who almost broke the deadlock: following a Maicon corner, Ranocchia headed down for Lucio who slammed the ball left-footed full into Antonioli's face. The Cesena keeper stayed down but recovered after help arrived.
After a minute of added time the teams went into the changing rooms with the score at 0-0.
SECOND HALF – There were no changes made to either side at the interval and Cesena were the first team to move into attack as Iaquinta timed his run perfectly to shoot, but Castellazzi did well to tip the ball over the bar one-handed after 48 minutes. Once again it was the Sneijder-Pazzini duo who caused Antonioli problems in the 52nd minute: a long ball from the Dutchman picked out 'Pazzo', but the keeper denied him. The tables were suddenly turned in the 53rd minute when, with Castellazzi beaten, the crossbar saved the Nerazzurri from Iaquinta's effort, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop Ceccarelli's shot from the edge of the box after it took a deflection off Nagatomo on 57 minutes. Fortunately Cesena's lead at San Siro lasted only 2 minutes: Alvarez provided the assist for Obi whose right-footed blast took a deflection off Von Bergen, wrong-footing Antonioli and putting the sides level at 1-1. The all-important goal came in the 72nd minute and was scored by Zarate: Antonioli punched Milito's left-footed shot clear, Zarate tried again but his shot was blocked. The ball fell to Guarin who centred for Zarate and this time he made his header count giving Inter a 2-1 lead. After 4 minutes of added time Inter v Cesena came to an end with the same scoreline. The Nerazzurri now have 55 points in the league and have drawn level with Lazio and Napoli, as they await the outcome of the evening kick-off between Udinese and Lazio.
Inter 2-1 Cesena (HT: 0-0)
Scorers: Ceccarelli 57, Obi 59, Zarate 72.
Inter: 12 Castellazzi; 13 Maicon, 6 Lucio, 23 Ranocchia, 55 Nagatomo; 14 Guarin, 19 Cambiasso; 20 Obi; 11 Alvarez (Zarate 66), 10 Sneijder (Poli 80); 7 Pazzini (Milito 60).
Unused subs: 21 Orlandoni, 2 Cordoba, 37 Faraoni, 9 Forlan.
Coach: Andrea Stramaccioni.
Cesena: 1 Antonioli; 77 Ceccarelli (Djokovic 85), 28 Benalouane, 25 Von Bergen, 2 Rodriguez, 16 Comotto (Martinho 65); 7 Santana, 5 Guana, 18 Parolo; 10 Mutu (Lolli 75), 9 Iaquinta.
Unused subs: 88 Ravaglia, 13 Rossi, 17 Malonga, 24 Arrigoni.
Coach: Mario Beretta.
Referee: Andrea Romeo (Verona).
Yellow cards: Benalouane 42, Santana 62. Red cards: Beretta 90+3, Canzi 90+3.
Added time: 1 + 4 minutes.
