Underwhelming Inter come back to salvage draw away at Monza in Serie A
The Biancorossi came into this clash following an inauspicious start to the season, which yielded two draws and one defeat. With that in mind, the visit of the reigning champions would have done little to lift the air of trepidation surrounding the Stadio Brianteo.
Unsurprisingly, it was Inter that began brighter, with early chances falling to Federico Dimarco and Lautaro Martínez. Dimarco was enjoying a fine game and brilliantly teed up Davide Frattesi in the box, but the latter fired wide from a promising position inside the box.
A combination of some sloppy Nerazzurri finishing and a resolute defensive display from Monza left Simone Inzaghi’s side still searching for a breakthrough at the break.
Legendary AC Milan defender and Biancorossi head coach Alessandro Nesta would have been delighted by his side’s endeavour and could have been even happier had Warren Bondo’s speculative effort not been blocked as the first half came to a close.
Inter kept knocking on the door after the break, as Marcus Thuram headed wide from Benjamin Pavard’s cross, before Inzaghi made a triple change, introducing Denzel Dumfries, Piotr Zieliński and Mehdi Taremi.
The Iranian striker had a chance to make an early impact when Kristjan Asllani’s cross was cleared into his path, but the former FC Porto frontman missed the target. In contrast, chances were at a premium for Monza, but Milan Duric could not direct his header towards goal from Daniel Maldini’s delicious cross from the right-hand side.
Despite the wealth of attacking talent in the Nerazzurri ranks, Inzaghi would be alarmed by the fact that his side had failed to register a solitary shot on target heading into the final 15 minutes.
The Nerazzurri would rue those missed chances and Mota powered home a superb header past Yann Sommer from Armando Izzo’s perfectly-weighted delivery.
However, Dumfries netted a timely equaliser with a clinical first-time finish at the far post from Dimarco’s cross to seal a share of the spoils.
It was hardly a vintage performance from Inzaghi’s side, who missed out on a chance to go top of the table, while Monza will take plenty of positives from a gutsy display after being cruelly denied a famous win.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan)