Inter vs Lecce Match Report

[Eddy]

Hello Interfriends,

Inter beat Lecce at home today by a scoreline of 3-0 in a match that looked more like a training session under heavy rain than a Serie A showdown. Inter cruise home and win the three points with ease as Martins, Stankovic and in form Striker Julio Cruz seal the deal with a goal each.

More good news regarding this match is that Inter's defenisve streak of not letting in a goal at home also remains intact as they have not conceeded in 543 minutes with the shut out tonight. Lecce on the other hand swing the other way with 11 away games without a win and 27 goals scored against.

Inter look to forget the Palermo match last week and did so beating Artmedia in the Champions League and followed up with another impressive win all be it against a lack lustre opposition. Mancini does not commit his Palermo mistake and goes back to a standard 4-4-2 formation with Stankovic and Figo wide and Veron-Cambiasso combo in the middle. Ze Maria returns to the squad in the right-back role with Cordoba and Materazzi holding the center while Samuel serves his last game suspension. Julio Cesar in goal, Favalli at left back and Martins-Adriano up front complete the Inter eleven.

Inter begin to fly from the start using the wings with both Figo and Stankovic doing well beating players and sending crosses. The two wingers also swaped sides often causing havoc on the Lecce defence and not giving points of reference. Inter's defence was solid with the protection of both Cambiasso and Veron who did very well tracking back but also keeping the tempo high which was something Veron did not do against Palermo.

Adriano was not at his brightest but did start the game well exciting the crowd with 2 or 3 back heel passes to free Martins and Stankovic. It was raining hard in Milan today so it made the task a little tricky but Inter played a disciplined and quick game to break through.

Lecce were really no match for this Inter side as they only really managed one chance with Vucinic at the 19th minute but his header went high and wide. It was Adriano who had the first chance for Inter as he exchanged with Martins at the top of the box but his central shot was well saved and out for a corner.

Its Martins that gets the opening goal of the game at the 25th minute as he takes a wonderful through ball from Cambiasso. Martins runs into the area with the ball looking a little too far ahead and the Lecce goalie sliding out to beat him. Martins pace pays off as he arrives first and chips the goalie with his left foot from a tough angle to make it 1-0.

With Inter now having the upper hand, Lecce's defensive plan was shot and Inter score again only 4 minutes later as Veron sends in a wonderful cross-assist to the far post. Stankovic is not picked up and he has a free lane to the net and shoots on goal. He did not really connect with the ball and it was a more a miss-shot than anything else but it was still enough to beat the keeper and make it 2-0 at the 29th minute of the first half.

Lecce is shell shocked at this point and Cambiasso could have scored the third goal at the 32nd minute but his shot hits the outside of the post after a wonderful collective move. Lecce try to hold there head up and regain some of the momentum but Inter were tight in all area's and controlled the final 10 minutes of the half with ease.

Inter start the second half without any changes and the game does not offer any surprises. Lecce have no answers and Inter are content to move the ball well and use Figo and Stankovic as outlets often. Veron still does well to keep the tempo up as he passes the ball quickly and combines with Cambiasso well who once again owned the midfield.

Mancini waits to make his changes as Inter were in total control and then took out Figo for C. Zanetti to secure the match. Cruz also came on for Martins and Pizarro for Adriano in the last 10 minutes as Inter played with Cruz upfront alone and Veron pushed wide to the right side.

Its Veron again who provides another wonderful assist into the path of Julio Cruz who is in impressive form. Veron's ball was a mid-height floating cross that Cruz controls with his chest on the penalty spot and shoots with his right foot pastthe keeper with ball never touching the ground and all taken in stride.

It was a wonderful goal and a perfect way to stamp Inter's win over Lecce. Inter could have had a few more goals today but the Lecce goalkeeper did come up strong on several shots to keep the score to only three goals. Adriano did well in terms of playing for the team but was not his usual dominant self today.

In my opinion Mancini should have taken Adriano off at half time or at least early in the second to give him a rest. It was clearly evident that we could win this game and even if Lecce scored we had enough fire power today to get one back. With Inter playing against Chievo on Wednesday it would have been wise to spare Adriano rather than leave him on until the final 10 minutes.

Still it was a very easy win and if nothing else should help boost moral of the squad. After the horrible loss to Palermo a win in the Champions League and an even easier win tonight against Lecce was just what the doctor ordered!

Eddy

[BFC82]

Thank you Eddy, I downloaded the match through bit torrent and I have to agree with most of what you said. Although, Im a bit dissapointed that Recoba did not set foot on the pitch. Of all the 4 strikers, he is the one with the least amount of minutes. I think this would have a great game for him to get some match action.

One thing I noticed, Adriano is starting to work as part of the team. He does not try to take on the whole opposition if he doesnt have to.

Thanks again

[BabyPhat]

estions:

1. You've had a chance to see Julio Caesar now. How do u rate him?He came out of relative obscurity but do u think he's got the class to be a world performer or is it still too early to say?

2. How did Ze Maria play. Theres still no able replacement for the right back position unless u think we can use Samuel in that position, or even Burdisso. what do u reckon?

3. What about Stankovich's game. We keep using him in the left wing position but does he look comfortable there?What is his role in this Inter team?

Anyways, let me know your thoughts, its always good to talk to you.

[snake]

estions:

1. You've had a chance to see Julio Caesar now. How do u rate him?He came out of relative obscurity but do u think he's got the class to be a world performer or is it still too early to say?

2. How did Ze Maria play. Theres still no able replacement for the right back position unless u think we can use Samuel in that position, or even Burdisso. what do u reckon?

3. What about Stankovich's game. We keep using him in the left wing position but does he look comfortable there?What is his role in this Inter team?

Anyways, let me know your thoughts, its always good to talk to you.

Am i allowed to answer those questions too? :redface:

1. It is still relatively early to see what his future holds, however his performances have all been great. So far this season I havent come out and said 'That goal was Julios fault'. So for me his playing very well. The most important thing is that he isnt on the bench and that his playing reguraly so in the next couple of years he will be No.1 for Inter and Brazil (Dida's quite old)

2. Ze Maria does not and did not play very well at Right Back. Samuel at RB? No way would it ever happen, Burdisso could play there when his fit but by the time he is fit I think Zanetti will be back.

3. People criticise Stankovic for some below-par performances when he played on the left wing last season. Everybody blamed Mancini for playing him 'OUT' of position. But frankly, Stankovic can play anywhere, so he is not out of position, he was just low on form. In the past 2 games (Artmedia and Lecce) he looked very very good to me. It just shows when his in good form our left wing actually looks like a big threat (since he could of scored a hat-rick and defended well.

[BabyPhat]

of course dude, i want comments from everyone who's seen the matches.

[Adriano@10]

estions:

1. You've had a chance to see Julio Caesar now. How do u rate him?He came out of relative obscurity but do u think he's got the class to be a world performer or is it still too early to say?

2. How did Ze Maria play. Theres still no able replacement for the right back position unless u think we can use Samuel in that position, or even Burdisso. what do u reckon?

3. What about Stankovich's game. We keep using him in the left wing position but does he look comfortable there?What is his role in this Inter team?

Anyways, let me know your thoughts, its always good to talk to you.

1. Well Cesar foresure is great and how he preformes right now, i realy think he has the potential to be a Worldclass keeper. Just tha fact that he took the place of Toldo, wich foresure was a Worldclass keeper, shows his potential.

2. Well Ze forsure did better than against Palermo. He s offensive paly was not too bad he had some good crosses and i realy think he can improve there. Only thing im worried about is his defensive play especialy if we play against a big team. I still don t like the idea of using Samuel ore Cordoba on the right. Only option to Ze is Burdisso but since he hasent played fore a long time i think he first has to satel in the team so were stuck with Ze. But haven t we bought Ze fore such situations???

3. Stankovic he even improoved compared to the last games but he still is not on the level he should/can bee. In the lecce match he diden t made any mistales but also has not made too much with out the goal i ve almost seen nothing of him in thos match. But the Fact that he s improoving shows that he only has to get used to plaing on the lw.

By the way great report thanx fore that

[Fabio]

Thanks for the great report Eddy, we could really do with another intelligent poster regularly on the forum - what do you say?

Fabio

[Eddy]

I Love Inter,

Thanks for the kind words. I wish I could post more often on the forums but between commitments with work, family and all the rest time is limited.

I will try to post more often in the future but for now I hope you enjoy the reports and I will do my best to be more active in the other areas of the forum soon as time permits.

Thanks again buddy!