Serie A: Inter Milan’s defeat to Lazio shows why Simone Inzaghi is in need of new tactical solutions

It was a difficult Friday night in Rome for Simone Inzaghi as his Inter Milan squad suffered its first defeat of the Serie A season, a 3-1 loss at the hands of Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio. The loss exposed some concerns over tactical and the mental aspects for a Nerazzurri side that dropped its first points of the season after winning the first two matches against Lecce away and Spezia at home. 

Inzaghi’s squad started string and created some decent chances, but it was Sarri’s side that managed to score the opening goal of the match with Felipe Anderson heading home a ball from Sergej Milinković-Savić to put the home team in front of the Nerazzurri in the 40th minute. 

It didn’t take long after the halftime break for Inter Milan to respond in the second half and immediately find an equalizer. Lautaro Martinez took advantage of a chaotic situation inside the box and scored in the 51st minute his second goal of the Serie A season. At that point it appeared as if Inzaghi’s had the situation under control until Luis Alberto changed the complexion of the match by scoring an incredible goal. The Spanish midfielder, despite rumors of an exit, stayed at the club in the summer and showed once again why he’s one of the best midfielders in the league. Before the end of the match it was Pedro who scored the last goal of the night that put the result on the 3-1. 

After winning the opening match against Bologna and drawing away against Torino, Lazio’s win against Inter Milan was an important statement for a Sarri-led squad that is showing it can compete until the end of the season for the highest positions of the table. On the other hand, Inzaghi needs to find new tactical solutions because Inter Milan are currently too predictable in the offensive midfield. 

The Nerazzurri are in the toughest Champions League group with dates set against Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Viktoria Plzeň — stream all games on Paramount+. That alone makes Friday’s result a bit worrisome considering how the first three matches of the Serie A season were played. Inter lacked of intensity and the changes made by Inzaghi against Lazio left some doubts among the fans. The Italian coach chose to leave Hakan Calhanoglu on the bench and also removed Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco in the second half. It’s also worth noting that Romelu Lukaku’s performance was poor against Lazio and showed that the former Chelsea striker needs to find a way to be more involved in the tactics of this team. This will be up to him and to Inzaghi. 

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