Inter Milan’s Champions League hopes remain alive and kicking after getting another three points away at the Stadio Dall’Ara. Stefano Pioli and his players were favourites heading into the match and ended up coming away with a slender 1-0 victory thanks to a debut finish from young Brazilian sensation Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa.

 

The goal will definitely be the main talking point of an otherwise fairly dull match as the Nerazzurri and Bologna didn’t offer up many other topics for discussion. The 20 year old Sau Paulo native, whom the fans have been asking to see all season, was brought on to replace the disappointing Rodrigo Palacio with fifteen minutes remaining and did exactly what he was signed to do.

 His celebration clearly showed his sheer delight as he removed his shirt and run away to celebrate for the first and surely not the last time with the travelling fans that were also in ecstasy at the goal. The match itself saw some tinkering from Stefano Pioli as he began with what looked like a variation on the 4-2-3-1 formation that has served him so well with Danilo D’Ambrosio in particular pushing high up the left side of the pitch making it at times, a 3-4-2-1. Gary Medel was once again selected to play at centre back after an assured performance last time out.


 

Ivan Perisic returned from suspension and was thrown straight back into the starting eleven, playing in his favoured left attacking midfield role. It was the Croatians brilliant skill and delivery that led to the first real opportunity of the match which ended in quite incredible fashion. Perisic in a trademark move, drove down the left side of the pitch into the box and cut the ball back for Palacio who unfortunately fluffed his lines in front of an open goal. Unfortunately for the Argentine, it seems like his time at Inter is over and he looks set to move on at the end of the season to allow more time for others like Gabigol.

 

As the game progressed into the second half Pioli finally accepted things had to change and first threw on Christian Ansaldi for the more defensive Jeison Murillo to get a more conventional four at the back approach, allowing the full backs to press higher and create more opportunities. The two later introductions from Pioli proved the masterstroke as Ever Banega and Gabigol were brought on and duly changed the game. Banega’s brilliant work and pass released D’Ambrosio who had been switched to the right and he cut back for Gabigol's match winning finish. The performances of the substitutes are proving Inter have much needed depth going into the latter part of the season.

 

It’s not just the three points that’s great news for Inter but also the impact the substitutes had, as more players are now finding their feet in Milan and competing for places. Following the super sub performances, the South American duo will now be pushing for starting positions in Inter's next titanic tie against Roma this weekend.



Ciro Di Baselli