MILAN – Inter left it late but goals from Ivan Perisic and a brace from Mauro Icardi gave the club a well-deserved and much-needed victory tonight at San Siro.
Crotone turned up at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza with one aim in mind: to park the bus and try to get away with a point. For much of the contest it looked as if they would do just that, but as the Calabrian side tired, the Nerazzurri's quality came to the fore and 3-0 was ultimately a fair reflection of the dominance by Stefano Vecchi's players.
The interim coach lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Icardi leading the line and Ever Banega in the hole behind him. His side immediately gained territory in the midfield and Antonio Candreva threatened early doors with a couple of crosses from the right flank.
In the sixth minute, Banega won the ball and drove at the heart of the Calabrian defence before shooting from the edge of the area. However, Alex Cordaz was in fine form in the visitors' goal and saved with his feet.
Crotone had a couple of half chances down the other end: the first when they outnumbered the Inter defence on a counter attack and the second when Djamal Mesbah put in a good cross for Marcello Trotta. In both cases, Miranda did well to snuff out any serious threat.
The contest settled into a rhythm of wave after wave of Inter attacks down the wings and crosses into the box. Just before the half-hour mark, the Crotone defence failed to clear a ball properly and it fell to Candreva, who unleashed a stinging shot that Cordaz couldn't keep hold of. Danilo D'Ambrosio was the first to react and put the ball in the net, but replays showed he was fractionally offside and the goal didn't stand.
There were no changes to either side at half-time and the sides picked up where they left off at the end of the first: Inter banging on the door and Crotone trying to keep them out. Jeison Murillo, Mauro Icardi and Banega all had chances within the first five minutes of the restart that were either too high, safely saved or deflected behind for a corner.
In the 62nd minute, Marcelo Brozovic won a free-kick in an ideal position and Banega nominated himself to take it. The Argentine successfully got the ball up and over the wall, but Cordaz caught sight of it early and managed to pull out the diving save. That proved to be Banega's last contribution, as he was replaced by Eder for the last 30 minutes.
As the minutes ticked away, it began to look as if this would be yet another occasion when luck was set against us. Happily, in the 84th minute, Icardi played a first-time ball out to Perisic on the right wing. The Croatian drove into the area and struck an angled shot under Cordaz to break the deadlock.
Three minutes later, Inter's captain was brought down unfairly in the area and Gianpaolo Calvarese pointed immediately to the spot. The Argentine No.9 stood up and put the result beyond doubt, smashing an unsaveable penalty into the bottom corner.
The icing on the cake was applied with essentially the last kick of the game, when the lively Eder put in an inch-perfect cross for Icardi to volley home his second of the evening and restore some confidence to the club.
Inter 3-0 Crotone (HT: 0-0)
Scorers: Perisic 84, Icardi 88 (pen.) and 90+2.
INTER: 1 Handanovic; 33 D'Ambrosio, 25 Miranda, 13 Ranocchia (24 Murillo, 19), 21 Santon; 87 Candreva (10 Jovetic, 82), 77 Brozovic, 6 Joao Mario, 44 Perisic; 19 Banega (23 Eder, 63); 9 Icardi.
Subs not used: 30 Carrizo, 2 Andreolli, 5 Melo, 7 Kondogbia, 11 Biabiany, 27 Gnoukouri, 55 Nagatomo, 96 Barbosa.
Coach: Stefano Vecchi.
CROTONE: 1 Cordaz; 22 Rosi, 17 Ceccherini, 13 Ferrari, 15 Mesbah; 6 Rohden (31 Sampirisi, 85), 28 Capezzi, 18 Barberis (24 Tonev, 5); 29 Trotta (8 Crisetig, 71), 11 Falcinelli, 7 Palladino.
Subs not used: 5 Festa, 95 Cojocaru, 3 Claiton, 9 Nalini, 20 Salzano, 23 Doussenne, 77 Fazzi, 87 Martella, 99 Nwankwo.
Coach: Davide Nicola.
Yellow cards: Ranocchia 11, Mesbah 14, Rosi 70.
Additional time: 2+3 minutes.
Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese.
Assistants: Giacomo Paganessi, Omar Gava.
Fourth official: Valeriani.
Additional assistants: Filippo Irrati, Davide Ghersini.
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