Inter Milan Beat Lecce Without Lautaro Martinez, This Is Simone Inzaghi's Answer

Hakan Calhanoglu midfielder scored from a penalty spot that gave Inter Milan a 2-0 win over Lecce. (X/@Inter)

JAKARTA - Inter Milan lost captain Lautaro Martinez against Lecce in the Italian Serie A continuation. Even without Martinez, coach Simone Inzaghi remains optimistic and Inter beat Lecce 2-0 in the home match at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Sunday, August 25, 2024 in the morning WIB.

Martinez failed to appear due to illness ahead of the match against Lecce. Inzaghi did not want to take the risk of continuing to field his players. He chose to rely on the Iranian striker, Mehdi Taremi, who had a duet with Marcus Thuram. Taremi made his debut in the match and even played full.

Taremi's presence in the Inter team was quite surprising. This Iranian national team player became an unexpected purchase. Moreover, Taremi is 32 years old.

But Taremi is projected to be the coatings of Martinez and Thuram when he was brought in from Porto. He became the first Iranian player to play for Inter. When Martinez failed to appear, Taremi replaced the captain.

"On Friday morning, Lautaro woke up with his body hurt. From the medical examination, we didn't want to take the risk. He is an important player for us and actually still wants to be played. But the match is too early. We have to make sure he is in the best condition so he can be played in the following matches," said Inzaghi as quoted by Football Italia.

Inzaghi also ensured that Inter would not depend on one or two players. This makes him not hesitate to rely on Taremi in the match against Lecce.

Although he did not score, Taremi gave an assist to Matteo Darmian who opened Inter's victory through goals created when the game had only been running for a few minutes.

"We will not rely solely on Lautaro or [Nicolo] Barella, [Hakan] Calhanoglu or anyone else. Last season, we were able to win because of the contribution of all the players," he said.

"I like Taremi's game which didn't stop fighting for 95 minutes. He worked hard to help the team. That's what the coach wants to see," said Inzaghi again.

In that match, Inter fully controlled the game. Even I Nerazzurri were already ahead when the game had only been running five following Darmian's goal. The 1-0 advantage lasted until the first 45 minutes.

In the second half, Inter stepped up the pressure that forced Lecce to hold on more. The hosts finally increased their lead through Calhanoglu who scored from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.

The penalty was given after Thuram was brought down by Defender Kialonda Gaspar in the forbidden box. The opportunity was completed well by Calhanoglu who never failed to execute a penalty. Of the 17 penalties that were carried out while in Serie A, the Turkish national team player always managed to complete it

The score changed to 2-0 for Inter. The score did not change until the end of the match.

The victory brought Inter to the top of the standings by pocketing point four. The same as Genoa who won 1-0 over Monza. But Inter still lead the goal difference.