Inter Milan headed into the match against Torino on Sunday afternoon knowing that a win would momentarily send them at the top of the table. Inter went into the game after a backdrop of back to back victories in Serie A division with the latest win coming at Hellas Verona in the 2-1 victory in the previous weekend. Inter are currently placed third in the Serie A standings after playing twelve league matches.
After losing two consecutive league matches, Torino bounced back last weekend with a 2-1 win over Cagliari. Even if Torino had won at San Siro, the Bulls would've not gone further than position seven that they occupied before the match.
The game involved the two teams being fresh as none of them was involved in the midweek European assignments like other Italian giants.
What transpired
The hosts went into the fixture with a clean bill of health as no player was missing due to injury, thus giving the Inter boss an opportunity to make his selection for a full-strength side. Here's how Luciano Spalletti lined up his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Samir Handanovic covered the space between the sticks while Milan Skriniar, Danilo D'Ambrosio, Yuto Nagatomo, and Miranda formed a four-man shield in front of the hosts' goal area. Borja Valero, Antonio Candreva, Roberto Gagliardini, Matias Vecino, and Ivan Perisic played in the center of the field as Mauro Icardi led the hunt for goals in the attack.
Apart from Kevin Bonifazi who was out with an injury, the visitors had the rest of players available for selection. Sinisa Mihajlovic named Salvatore Sirigu as the goalkeeper while Lorenzo De Silvestri, Cristian Daniel Ansaldi, Nicolas Burdisso, and Nicolas N'Koulou formed the four-man defense in the 4-3-3 formation. Joel Chukwuma Obi, Tomas Rincon, and Daniele Baselli were in the midfield while Adem Ljajic, Andrea Belotti, and Iago Falque formed the three-pronged attack force.
The visitors took the lead after almost an hour of play, through Iago Falque, with the assist coming from Lorenzo De Silvestri. However, the hosts salvaged a point late in the game when substitute Eder equalized in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw. The Maroons' shot-stopper, Salvatore Sirigu was undoubtedly the man of the match after making critical saves for his side in a game that produced a massive eight yellow cards.
The status of the league standings
Despite only managing a barren draw at Chievo Verona, Napoli still occupies the top spot with 32 points while Juventus is in position two, trailing the league leaders by just a point. Inter who remains undefeated in the league is in the third spot- two points behind Napoli.
Torino's 1-1 draw at Inter coupled with AC Milan win at Sassuolo made sure that the visitors were displaced from the seventh position and now the Bulls occupies the eight spot. After the international break, Torino will be hosting Chievo Verona in Round 13 of Serie A.
