Inter keen to quickly forget Empoli defeat and still not giving up on Scudetto

By Sports Desk January 23, 2023

Simone Inzaghi told Inter to forget Monday's dismal defeat to Empoli, after which the Nerazzurri were still not giving up hopes of winning Serie A.

Inter remained 13 points behind runaway leaders Napoli after going down 1-0 at home following a first-half Milan Skriniar red card.

Empoli were good value for their win against Inzaghi's out-of-sorts side, and the head coach appeared to recognise that as he sought to move on swiftly from this match.

"We have to archive it immediately," he said. "We will have another difficult game, and we have to forget immediately, looking ahead.

"Of course, we will analyse the mistakes, but we have to think about the next matches."

The season is now at the halfway stage, and Inzaghi acknowledged Inter must improve.

"This is a defeat that stings," he told DAZN. "We finish the first half of the season with 37 points and many regrets.

"Now, we know we'll have to do better over the second part."

However, midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu is remaining optimistic, saying in an interview with Sky Sport: "Thirteen points [to Napoli] is a huge gap, but we have to keep going and not stop.

"I know it feels hard to believe, but there's still a long way to go."

Related items

  • Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life after Toney with comfortable win

    Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.

    Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.

    With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.

    Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.

    Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.

    Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home

    Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.

    Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.

  • Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win Brentford 3-1 Southampton: Bees begin life without Toney with comfortable win

    Brentford began life without Ivan Toney with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Southampton.

    Bryan Mbeumo’s brace and a Yoane Wissa goal proved to be the difference between the two sides and condemned the Saints to their third straight loss since promotion back to the Premier League.

    With departed striker Toney watching in the stands after his move to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, the hosts proved too strong for Russell Martin’s men. They created the superior chances and capitalised on an error-strewn performance from Southampton’s backline.

    Mbeumo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before doubling the lead halfway through the second period and Wissa then got on the scoresheet moments later to continue Brentford’s strong start to the campaign. Yukinari Sugawara bagged a consolation in injury time for the Saints.

    Brentford sit in fifth place ahead of the first international break, while Southampton are second-bottom of the league table with zero points.

    Data debrief: Wissa continues to prove effective at home

    Wissa now has five goals and two assists in his last seven matches at the Gtech Community Stadium.

    Brentford have recorded consecutive home league wins for the first time since last November, and the first time in their opening home games since August 2018.

  • Inter 4-0 Atalanta: Thuram runs rampant in statement win Inter 4-0 Atalanta: Thuram runs rampant in statement win

    A Marcus Thuram double helped Inter to an emphatic 4-0 win over Atalanta on Friday, winning a second-straight home game.

    The defending champions, coming off a draw at Genoa and a 2-0 win over Lecce, scored twice in the opening stages of each half to prevail and, provisionally, move top of the standings with seven points.

    The hosts opened the scoring just three minutes in when Thuram's low cross deflected off Berat Djimsiti into his own net before Nicolo Barella doubled the lead with a stunning volley from the edge of the box seven minutes later.

    They could have had a third just before the half-hour mark too, with Thuram ghosting past Atalanta's defence again, only to see this effort deflected off the woodwork.

    Thuram scored twice in similar fashion after the break, taking advantage of loose balls from the visitors' poor defence to fire home from close range in the 47th and 56th minutes.

    Atalanta posed little threat and can count themselves lucky not to be on the end of a heavier scoreline as Federico Dimarco's sweeping finish was disallowed for offside late on. 

    Data Debrief: Thuram steals spotlight

    While Barella arguably scored the pick of the goals with his long-range stunner, Thuram was at the heart and centre of everything Inter did on Friday.

    He had the most shots (four) and netted with both of his efforts on targeting, outperforming his 0.49 expected goals.

    Thuram is now the fourth Inter player to score at least four goals in his first three appearances in a Serie A season in the three-points-for-a-win era, after Lautaro Martínez (five in 2023-24), Mauro Icardi (five in 2017-18) and Christian Vieri (four in 1999-00 and 2002-03).

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.