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Cagliari 1 Inter 1 Unlucky

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Well that was unfortunate. We came into this match with the possibility of taking first place (albeit temporarily because Roma still had a chance to take the top spot back, and boy did they take it). But things just didn't go our way this match. We walked away with a point though, and its debatable if we would've done the same last season.

(I'm really not in the mood/don't have time to do a lengthy review so I'm just going to do a quick Good, Bad, Ugly section)

The Ugly

The pitch... That field was awful. Yes I know it rained earlier but still. No match should have to be played like that. Players were slipping and sliding, the ball was getting caught up in wet patches and slowing down, and the overall play of both teams suffered as a result. It seemed better in the second half but still. Ugh

I'm slightly tempted to add some others here but the pitch was so bad that it deserves its own category

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The Bad

Pereira. He didn't really have the world's best showing out there today. It wasn't awful but Mazzarri won't be tempted to drop either of his current wingbacks anytime soon. He looked unsure of himself at times and just wasn't on the right wavelength with the rest of the team sometimes.

Alvarez. Its not really that he was that bad just he wasn't very influential. THese last few games he has really stepped up and as a result of that I have begun to expect more out of him (unlike Guarin). But I think his lack of influence was more due to fatigue than him slipping back to sadder times.

Nianggolan's goal. I think this goal typifies what sucked about this match. First of all, when Nianggolan picks up the ball he has a few yards separating him from the nearest Inter player (Cambiasso). It allows him the time and space to take a touch, compose himself, and rip a shot from outside the area. He should've been closed down quicker. I know that Cambiasso had moved over to help Nagatomo with defending Ibraimi but either somebody should have stepped up to cover Nainggolan or Cambiasso should have moved back over quicker. Once again I think this was due to fatigue more than anything else. Also, the deflection. That's just unlucky. Like a lot of other parts of the match. But I'll get to that later.

The Good

Belfodil. Belfodil started this match off great. He was strong on the ball, made good runs, got himself in great positions, and found himself with a number of good opportunities. He just wasn't able to put them away (thanks in large parts to Agazzi). He didn't hesitate to drift out to the wings or drop deeper to pick up the ball (like Palacio) and as a result was very influential. Later on he began to fade out and was eventually withdrawn for Palacio.

Kovacic . Mazzarri said before the game that Kovacic needed to show that he is worthy of a starting spot and I think he did a good job of proving it. He had 8 dribbles, 83 touches, and had a 95% pass rate (leading the team in all three today). He put in a strong showing today and hopefully Mazzarri rewards the young star with a place in the starting 11 next week against Roma.

Palacio and Icardi. They both came on and did well. Icardi got another substitute goal, and Palacio was all over the place trying to make an impact on the game.

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Mazzarri (just for clarification he isn't going under the good, he gets his own section)

So Mazzarri did end up making a few changes to the squad, bringing in Rolando, Kovacic, Pereria, and Belfodil. It didn't go so well in the first half. He realized that and made some changes, bringing in Icardi at the start of the second and later on sending in Palacio. I give him credit for realizing that things weren't clicking and making the changes to put some ecxtra bite in the team. I also really liked his final substitution, Milito for Rannochia. I saw two things in that switch. First, that he wasn't going to be happy with a draw. He wanted those three points as badly as any fan did, and was willing to make a very attacking substitution to try to secure the points. It also showed that he was still thinking tactically. Some people would've removed Rolando because of his deflection mistake, others JJ because he was on a yellow card. But Mazzarri knew that of the three, Ranocchia is the least mobile and the most likely to be exposed on a counterattack. So he was the one to make way. Smart.

Unlucky. That's what we were today. 15 shots, 5 on target, 5 more blocked. Agazzi making some wonderful saves in the first half. Rocchi (the referee) getting in the way of a pass during a counterattack in the second half. Nainggolan's goal. Milito, Palacio, and everybody else missing the last chances at the end of the game. It just wasn't meant to be. So now we brush ourselves off, move on, and start getting ready for Roma.

Oh I didn't include anything from Mazzarri's postmatch interviews so here it is if you want to take a look: http://www.inter.it/en/news/43836

Forza Inter!

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