Serie A champions Inter Milan wrap up season with draw away against Verona
For both Verona and Inter, this game was a dead rubber, but that didn’t mean either team were happy to sign off on a sombre note.
With the Scudetto long since wrapped up, Inter appeared unrelenting in bidding to improve upon what is already their best points tally (93) in a single campaign since the 2006/07 season, and they duly took the lead inside 10 minutes when Marko Arnautovic pounced on a loose ball and poked home his fourth league goal of the season.
The away side’s joy was short-lived though, as Verona swiftly hit back when Tomas Suslov threaded Tijjani Noslin through on goal and the forward found the bottom corner.
That was a rare foray forward for the hosts, who spent most of the half on the back foot, but thanks to a solid save from Simone Perilli, who beat a flying Davide Frattesi effort away to safety, they were hanging on in there.
Such was the importance of the save, it afforded Verona the chance to take the lead themselves, and after providing the first goal, it was Suslov’s turn to hit the back of the net, effortlessly stroking home from the edge of the area after Noslin returned the earlier favour.
A topsy-turvy half was to have yet one more twist though, as Inter equalised on the stroke of half-time when Frattesi ghosted in behind and teed up Arnautović to sweep home his second of the evening.
The second half opened in a much similar way, with Inter dominating, but again beating Perilli was proving problematic, as he produced another eye-catching stop to deny Frattesi from firing the visitors back ahead. He was proving an immovable object in the Verona goal, and Hakan Calhanoglu was the next to test his resistance when his stunning long-distance drive forced him to make a stunning one-handed save.
Verona’s offerings in the final third were few and far between, but they signalled their intent with 15 minutes to go when Elayis Tavsan’s piledriver from 30 yards forced Raffaele Di Gennaro to make a smart stop after coming off the bench.
The game’s final flashpoint came in comical circumstances, some that will almost certainly appear on a football bloopers showreel in years to come.
Inter’s tormentor-in-chief Frattesi lofted the ball over Perilli, only for Ruben Vinagre to clear the ball off the line, against his own crossbar, and after a bout of penalty box pinball, Verona scrambled the ball to safety.
Given the lack of need for points for both sides, Inter weren’t too despondent to see Alexis Sanchez’s late goal ruled out for offside with them knowing the summer break was inbound.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan)