ROME – Goals from Miroslav Klose and Antonio Candreva condemned Inter to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night.
Roberto Mancini went with a starting line-up of D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo and Nagatomo in front of Handanovic between the sticks, Medel and Kondogbia in central midfield, Brozovic and Perisic on the flanks and Jovetic in behind captain Mauro Icardi.
Lazio enjoyed the first chance of the game with just three minutes on the clock, Medel having his pocket picked only for Klose to pick the wrong pass and allow Inter to clear. It was soon proved to be a sign of things to come, as the home side took an eighth-minute lead after Klose found himself one-on-one with Handanovic – the German showed all his experience to wait for Handanovic to go down before dinking it into the net.
Inter regained their poise, but in truth there was not much in the way of quality on show, both sides working chances without really testing the keepers. On 25 minutes, however, Kondogbia showed lovely vision to loft a cute ball over the Lazio defence for Jovetic, who chested down well only to be denied by Marchetti’s outstretched leg.
More half chances followed, notably a long-range Candreva effort that forced a smart save from Handanovic, but there were to be no more first-half goals and referee Luca Banti soon blew his whistle for the interval.
There was more zip about the Nerazzurri’s play after the break: first Jovetic came within a whisker of latching onto a nice move from Kondogbia and Icardi, then the Montenegrin teed up Brozovic only for Basta to block the Croat’s shot on 53 minutes.
Mancini sent on Biabiany for Medel on 56 minutes as Inter chased the game, but it was Jovetic involved once more as he laid it off for Perisic to drag just wide of goal. With 20 minutes remaining, Icardi rose highest to flick on a Perisic corner, but it was just a little too pacey for Jovetic to get to at the back post.
The Montenegrin soon made way for Eder, but the match was about to be turned on its head: on 83 minutes, Murillo upended Keita in the penalty box, incurring a second yellow from Mr Banti and giving Lazio a chance to secure the points from the spot. Candreva stepped up and made no mistake.
Inter kept pushing even with ten men, but there was no breaking down a solid Lazio defence. The final whistle confirmed the defeat, which leaves Mancini’s side in fourth spot on 64 points.
Lazio 2-0 Inter (HT: 1-0)
Scorers: Klose 8, Candreva 83.
LAZIO: 22 Marchetti; 8 Basta, 13 Bisevac, 18 Gentietti, 29 Konko; 23 Onazi, 20 Biglia (Cataldi 90+2), 19 Lulic; 87 Candreva (Milinkovic 88), 11 Klose (Mauri 72), 14 Keita.
Subs not used: 55 Guerrieri, 99 Berisha, 2 Hoedt, 4 Patricio, 5 Braafheid, 7 Morrison, 10 Felipe Anderson, 33 Mauricio.
Coach: Simone Inzaghi.
INTER: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio, 25 Miranda, 24 Murillo, 55 Nagatomo (Palacio 79); 17 Medel (Biabiany 56), 7 Kondogbia; 77 Brozovic, 10 Jovetic (Eder 72), 44 Perisic; 9 Icardi.
Subs not used: 30 Carrizo, 46 Berni, 5 Jesus, 12 Telles, 21 Santon, 27 Gnoukouri, 83 Melo, 97 Manaj.
Coach: Roberto Mancini.
Yellow cards: Gentiletti 12, Keita 52, Klose 64, Lulic 67, Murillo 80, Candreva 84.
Red cards: Murillo 82.
Added time: 1 + 4 mins.
Referee: Banti.
Assistants: Barbirati, Meli.
Fourth official: Vuoto.
Additional assistants: Orsato, Cervellera.
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