Full time: Inter 0-2 Sampdoria
Sampdoria are on the brink of the scudetto after one of the most dramatic games in Serie A history. They need three points from the last three games to be absolutely sure – Torino away, Lecce at home, Lazio away - with Milan moving up to second after winning 3-0 at Juventus. This is the table.
- Sampdoria 47 pts
- Milan 43
- Inter 42
Sampdoria were simultaneously lucky and wonderful. On the balance of play, they should have lost about 15-4. Inter had 24 shots to Samp’s six. They had 13 corners to Samp’s one. The Inter keeper Walter Zenga didn’t make a single save; Gianluca Pagliuca made 14, I think, including, a penalty from Lothar Matthaus.
The Sampdoria players and fans are going crazy. This is the time of their life, and at some point in the next three weeks they will, for the first time in their history, become champions of Italy!
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94 min With seconds remaining, Vialli is replaced by Marco Lanna. He hugs the coach Vujadin Boskov as he walks off. Vialli had a quiet first half, playing almost as a second left-back, but in the second he was awesome. Everything you could want in a sporting hero, Vialli has been today.
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92 min Pizzi’s cross hits Cerezo and deflects towards the near post, where Pagliuca flies to his right to make one last save, his 4942358125th of the match.
91 min Matthaus hammers a shot into the side netting. He still hasn’t got the message. The man’s an animal! Inter’s relentless attitude today has been pretty incredible: they’ll wonder all summer how they have lost this game, and with it the title.
90 min The resulting free-kick is belted into the wall by Matthaus. Berti heads the rebounds towards Serena, whose close-range shot brings a remarkable reaction save from Pagliuca! What is he on today? This is, and will forever be the game of his life.
89 min Pagliuca comes out of his penalty area to punch clear an up and under. He lost his bearings, but I’m still surprised he wasn’t booked.
88 min Sampdoria make their first change, with Ivano Bonetti replacing Beppe Dossena, the most unlikely hero.
87 min Inter are still pressing urgently, despite all the evidence to the contrary, despite the fact that on today’s form they could set up a bazooka on the edge of the area and they still wouldn’t beat Pagliuca.
86 min When play resumes, Matthaus has one last go in the shooting gallery, smacking a shot from 20 yards that is punched away by the flying Pagliuca. That’s his sixth save from Matthaus alone. There has never been a football match quite like this.
85 min Pagliuca is led away from the penalty area, Matthaus and Zenga walk over to plead for a bit of calm. Matthaus moves his hands from side to side, the universal sign for “no more”, or “please stop acting the tit”. They’ve lost it completely.
84 min Pagliuca is down in the six-yard box, and it looks like he’s been hit by a flare. Even Vierchowod, the toughest man in the history of the world, is flinching as he tries to avoid things being thrown from the crowd while he looks after Pagliuca.
83 min The Inter fans are not goin quietly. They’re ripping up seats, there are flares on the pitch. Klinsmann looks up and pleads for some order. Good luck with that.
81 min Make that 12. This one was routine, from Serena’s gentle header.
81 min An Inter corner is taken short to Bianchi, who sweeps a cross into the middle. Klinsmann meets it with a strong header and Pagliuca tumbles to his right to make yet another save – his 11th of the match, I think. His 11th of the match!
80 min You have to wonder whether Inter gambled too early by bringing on Pizzi for Stringara. From that moment in they were hopelessly exposed to Sampdoria’s blistering counter-attacks. The second goal summed it up: there was nobody within 30 yards of Vialli and Ferri.
GOAL! Juventus 0-3 Milan (Evani 78) I’d forgotten there was anything else happening in Serie A, or the world for that matter, but Alberigo Evani has wrapped things up for Milan in Turin with an acrobatic, hooked volley on the stretch; the sort that should strain a muscle, or at the very least rip the shorts at the business area.
79 min Yet another chance for Inter. Berti crosses from the left, Paganin heads it back across goal and Klinsmann flashes an overhead kick just wide.
79 min Vialli is down, lying on his front and holding his head. When he eventually gets up he points the finger, suggesting Ferri tried to do him. Replays show that Ferri definitely stamped on the back of his neck. I mean, it might have been an accident.
77 min “I’m not able to watch the match on telly today,” says James Wrout. “Are you watching the greatest score graphics ever invented - those ones they brought in for the World Cup last summer? They won’t be topped in a hurry! Forza Samp!”
GOAL! Inter 0-2 Sampdoria (Vialli 76)
Seconds after that frankly weird bit of negative play, Sampdoria score their second goal! Pagliuca, having received the ball from Pellegrini, threw it to Mannini on the right. He moved towards the halfway line and drove a long pass to Vialli, left one v one against Ferri on the edge of the area because of Inter’s cavalier tactics.
Vialli’s deft first touch wrongfooted Ferri, who ran past the ball and fell over in a heap as he tried to change direction. Vialli then rounded Zenga nervelessly before ramming the ball into the net with appreciable glee. Vialli celebrates with a clumsy somersault, and looks absolutely shattered as he is embraced by his teammates. Zenga charges after the linesman, appealing furiously for offside/a foul on Ferri/ANYTHING YOU BALD TIT! But there was nothing wrong with the goal, and Sampdoria are so close now.
Vialli has been utterly immense in the second half, playing up front on his own after the sending off of Roberto Mancini. Scratch that: he’s been utterly immense all season. It’s his 18th goal in the league, a staggering, cathartic response to his desperate World Cup.
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76 min Dossena collects the ball on the edge of the Inter area. He goes all the way back to Pellegrini in the Sampdoria half, who plays it back to Pagliuca. Talk about direct anti-football: they covered the length of the field in two passes! But hang on…
75 min: THIS IS THE GREATEST GAME EVER! In the same attack, Sampdoria have hit the post and had a shot cleared off the line! After being battered for so long, they twice came within spitting distance of the goal that would have put them 2-0 up and surely given them their first scudetto.
The goalscorer Beppe Dossena broke into space on the left of midfield and played a cute through pass to the quicksilver Attilio Lombardo, who moved smoothly around the onrushing Walter Zenga but then stabbed his shot against the post.
The ball came back to him to the left of goal, and he kept his cool to pass to Gianluca Vialli on the six-yard line. Vialli belted the ball past Zenga, but Andreas Brehme arrived from absolutely nowhere to volley the ball off the line. This is just astonishing.
The Sky commentator Martin Tyler, a calm, considered man, is screaming himself hoarse. When Lombardo hit the post, he said, “Vialli’s still waiting in the middle. HERE HE IS … AND IT’S OFF THE LINE!” Then, after a moment’s reflection, he added: “In years to come people will be saying, ‘I was here, I was at that game’.” He sounds on the cusp of tears, like he genuinely can’t cope with the drama of this match. We all know how he feels.
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74 min The resulting corner is partially headed away by Cerezo and hits Vialli on the shoulder. Inter appeal again, desperately, for a penalty. I’m pretty sure it was the shoulder. There’s no time for a replay because Sampdoria are off, three against two, only for Invernizzi to play a dreadful pass towards Pari that goes straight through to Zenga. This game is crazily open. Inter’s tactics are now the complete opposite of catenaccio. The door’s open. Come in Gianluca, make yourself at home. Talking of which…
74 min Brehme’s left-wing corner, taken from well outside the quadrant, is headed up in the air. Klinsmann, running away from goal, hooks it hopefully over his own head and Pagliuca has to backpedal desperately to palm it over the bar. That was a superb save, not least because it was so unexpected. Klinsmann was just helping it into a general area.
73 min This match is utterly immense. Inter’s tactical desperation means that Sampdoria look dangerous every time they get the ball. In fact both teams look like they are going to create a chance every time they attack.
72 min Cerezo nicks the ball in midfield, surges over the halfway line and finds Vialli on the right. He waits for support and then plays a poor pass, ruining a promising break. Inter sweep down the other end through Matthaus, who runs 40 yards to the edge of the area before crunching a low left-footed drive that is – yep – saved by Pagliuca.
71 min Invernizzi is booked for a bad tackle for Pizzi. That was good refereeing from D’Elia, to be fair: he played the advantage and then booked Invernizzi when the ball went dead.
70 min The substitute Pizzi is fouled on the left wing by Pellegrini. Brehme tosses the free-kick into middle, where Matthaus arrives late to slam a header at goal. Pagliuca tumbles to his right to make a fairly comfortable save. Matthaus ruefully kicks the outside of the post as he walks past.
69 min The elegant Fausto Pizzi replaces Stringara. A playmaker for a playbreaker. Inter have completely gone for it now: one centre back, no defensive midfielder. Stringara sprints off the pitch, reluctant to waste even a second.
69 min Vialli rolls Ferri superbly on the halfway line, hares down the left and is butchered by Ferri. A clear yellow card.
PAGLIUCA SAVES MATTHAUS’S PENALTY!!!
67 min Lothar Matthaus, football’s answer to the Terminator, has had his penalty saved by Gianliuca Pagliuca! What on earth is happening? Matthaus hit the ball hard and low, so hard that it looked like he wanted to put a hole in the net, but it wasn’t in the corner. Pagliuca guessed right, plunged to his right and stopped it!
The ball ran loose between Pagliuca’s legs – but his body position, an L-shape, meant he couldn’t immediately reach the ball. And out of the corner of his eye he could see Matthaus moving inexorably towards him and the ball, ready to hoof them both into the back of the net.
It was like a horror movie scene where the hero is frantically trying to open a car door before something serrated goes into their neck. Eventually Pagliuca tried to drag the ball somewhere, anywhere, with his right shinbone. And then time. Stood. Still before the ball hit Matthaus, four yards from goal, and rebounded this far wide of goal. Unbelievable stuff!
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66 min While the Sampdoria players were protesting, Berti got to his feet and calmly walked off, like somebody swanning away from a saloon bar brawl that he started. Pagliuca wandered slowly after Berti, eventually jabbing his finger right in his face while dispensing a few sour nothings. At the same time Lombardo clapped Berti sarcastically. Pagliuca then turned to walk back to his line, as if remembering he was about to try to save the most important penalty in Serie A in nine years, so Berti went after him before being restrained by Lombardo and Vialli. It’s chaos, and it’s wonderful!
Finally, Berti spins on his heels again and walks towards the touchline, pointing at somebody and mouthing off. I don’t speak Italian, and I can’t lipread, but I have a pretty good idea what he’s trying to say. He ends the whole magnificent performance by beckoning somebody from the Sampdoria bench towards him with the universal ‘come on then’ hand gesture, his face a picture of the purest disdain.
Was it a penalty? At first I thought a definite dive, now I reckon Berti had a decent case. Honestly, I have no idea anymore, there have been so many appeals today.
PENALTY TO INTER!!!
66 min Nicola Berti has been pleading for a penalty all afternoon, and now Pietro D’Elia has acceded to his request. It won’t surprise you to hear it was pretty debatable. Ferri lumped a long, angled ball into the area towards Klinsmann, who towered over Mannini and headed it back across goal. Pellegrini’s volleyed clearance hit Cerezo, who was standing right behind him, and rebounded to Mannini. His clearance was blocked by Klinsmann, which led to a mad scramble in the area.
Vierchowod and Cerezo tried to run the ball clear but only gave it to Berti. He jumped across Cerezo, felt a slight knee to the bum and went over. Pietro D’Elia pointed the spot and was surrounded by a posse of Sampdoria players, with Vierchowod manhandling him slightly in his frustration.
66 min A ludicrous shot from Ferri, 40 yards out, goes miles over the bar.
65 min: LOMBARDO ALMOST MAKES IT 2-0! What a chance for Sampdoria to win the match and the title! It came – of course it did – on the counter-attack. The tireless Cerezo, who is 36 going on 12, wafted a speculative pass out towards Vialli on the right wing. Ferri came across in front of him, but Vialli hooked his leg around Ferri to scoop the ball into the space behind the defence.
That allowed Lombardo to scorch away from the last man Brehme in the inside-right channel. He moved into the area, with Brehme wheezing in his slipstream, and drove a low shot just wide of the far post. The angle was pretty tight by the time he had the shot, but there was a moment when he looked certain to make it 2-0.
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63 min Serena, back doing some defensive work, floors Pari with a peach of an elbow, right in the kisser. Pari goes down holding his face, D’Elia waves him to his feet. The arbitro has been, well, arbitrary in his decision-making today. That wasn’t much different to Mikhailichenko’s elbow on Bergomi in the return game, for which he was sent off.
62 min Klinsmann and Berti have a moan, not unreasonably about Sampdoria’s timewasting. Referee D’Elia asserts his authority by running over, dancing a couple of yards with the ball and running off again.
61 min If Sampdoria can hold on for 30 minutes, they will be this close to their first ever scudetto.
GOAL! Inter 0-1 Sampdoria (Dossena 60)
Sampdoria have scored with their first proper attack of the second half - and we’re 15 minutes in! This goal isn’t just against the run of play, it’s an absolute affront to the run of play. Inter look utterly stunned, not least because they were complicit in the goal. Matthaus played a pass back towards the centre circle, where Stringara allowed it to run past his body, thinking there was somebody behind him.
There was – but it was Vialli, who charged after the loose ball and just beat the lunging Paganin to it. He ran down the left, waited for support and then moved back outside Paganin before finding Dossena, 25 yards from goal.
He ran towards the ball in peculiarly short steps, as if his feet were on fire, touched it forward a yard and then, from nowhere, struck a brilliant low shot that flashed past Zenga at the near post.
It’s his first league goal of the season! “What a time to get it!” screams Martin Tyler on Sky Sports. “What a way to get it!” Pagliuca charges over the halfway line to celebrate. Even one of the substitutes is on the field, jumping around like a loon.
59 min What’s another word for ‘siege’? Berti, on the left, almost puts Matthaus through on goal. Mannini knocks the ball behind for a corner and Matthaus charges over to take it as quickly as possible.
58 min: BIANCHI MISSES AN OPEN GOAL! How did that not go in? Stringara played a short pass into Berti, back to goal on the edge of the D. He touched it round the corner to Serena, span away from Pellegrini and hared into the area to receive the return pass. His first touch took him a fraction wide, which allowed Pellegrini to launch himself at the ball and block Berti’s shot just in front of Pagliuca.
The ball broke to Bianchi, six yards out. He only had to lob it over the trio of Pellegrini, Pagliuca and Berti and into the empty net. He managed that – but he also lifted it over the bar. That’s a shocking miss! It was also an amazing block just before that by Pellegrini, who started punching the air in celebration when he realised Bianchi’s shot had cleared the bar.
58 min Klinsmann’s dangerous cross on the turn is hoofed out of play desperately by Pellegrini. Somewhere, anywhere. It’s a siege.
56 min Matthaus hammers a long ball towards Klinsmann on the edge of the area. Mannini heads it clear as far as Serena, who controls the bouncing ball on the chest and whacks a volley that is beaten away unconvincingly by Pagliuca. It was straight at him so he must have been unsighted.
55 min: Another penalty appeal for Inter! Stringara appeals unsuccessfully for a penalty after having his left leg dragged from under him by Vierchowod. It was right on the edge of the box, but Pietro D’Elia didn’t give a free-kick or a penalty. Stringara punches the air and howls at the referee, his grey hair and maniacal expression making him look a bit like Leland Palmer’s reflection. I think that was a penalty.
54 min Inter’s pressure is incessant. Ferri slides a pass into Berti on the edge of the area. His neat dummy allows the ball to run to Klinsmann, who loses Mannini without touching the ball and then screws a dangerous cross on the turn that is pawed away at the near post by the stretching Pagliuca.
53 min Pagliuca wastes a few more seconds over the resulting free-kick before inviting Pellegrini to take it, thus wasting a few more.
52 min The resulting free-kick is laid off to Matthaus, who screams it towards goal from 30 yards. It’s straight at Pagliuca but hit with such power that he takes the safeish option of punching it away. Sampdoria are then given a breather when Serena is flagged offside.
It was the correct decision, but by the time play stopped Pari had wandered into the six-yard box and looked like he was playing everyone onside. Klinsmann pointed this out to the referee D’Elia, who then gave Pari a rollocking for no reason. He was just minding his own business in the six-yard box!
52 min Mannini is booked for a brazen block on the marauding Berti, who rolls over a couple of times and lands on his knees. He holds the pose, hands in the double-teapot position, and harrumphs at the inherent injustice of existence. A combination of those blistering surges from midfield and his artistic tendencies make him utterly compelling.
51 min Pari flicks the ball straight out of play, just so that Sampdoria can get a couple of seconds’ respite. Brehme charges after the ball like a ballboy and takes the throw-in to Stringara, who plays a give-and-go with Matthaus before shooting high and wide.
49 min: Fine block by Vierchowod! Not that he knew much about it. Sampdoria were cut open by two penetrative passes: Brehme to Berti and then onto Bianchi on the left-side of the area. He screwed the ball back to Serena, whose first-time shot hit the appreciable noggin of Vierchowod and rebounded to safety. It might have been going over the bar, it’s hard to tell because Vierchowod was crouching slightly.
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48 min As in the first half, Inter have come flying out of the blocks. A sliced clearance by Invernizzi is headed away by Lombardo. The most dynamic winger in Italy has spent most of this game at right-back.
47 min Brehme’s long-range free-kick is comfortably held by Pagliuca.
47 min No substitutions on either side, and no changes despite those red cards. Sampdoria are now playing 3-5-1 and Inter 3-1-3-2 with just one centre-back in Ferri. They do have Stingara, the spare man in front of the defence, to drop back when necessary.
46 min Inter begin the second half. It’s 10-a-side, although I wouldn’t rule out more red cards given the performance of the referee Pietro D’Elia so far.
The half-time scores in Serie A
- Inter 0-0 Sampdoria
- Roma 0-1 Atalanta
- Pisa 0-0 Lazio
- Parma 0-0 Torino
- Juventus 0-2 Milan
- Genoa 1-2 Cagliari
- Bologna 1-1 Fiorentina
- Bari 0-0 Lecce
- Napoli 1-0 Cesena
The big story, apart from the two matches at the top, is that Cagliari’s great escape is still on: they lead 2-1 at Genoa, a continuation of their outstanding recent form. It would be some achievement for their young coach Claudio Ranieri to keep them up, as they looked finished when they were thumped at Bari in January.
Half time: Internazionale 0-0 Sampdoria
Pietro D’Elia decides it’s time for everyone to have a breather. It’s 0-0, but the score doesn’t begin to tell the story of a seriously hot-blooded 45 minutes.
45+3 min: Bergomi has been hit by a coin! This match is getting more surreal by the minute. A coin – I assume it was that, anyway - was thrown by one of the Inter fans, presumably at Mancini, but it hit Bergomi and sent him to the floor.
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BERGOMI AND MANCINI ARE SENT OFF!!
45+2 min D’Elia did call Bergomi over. Mancini was already there, and he flicked the red card almost nonchalantly in both their directions. I’m not sure they did enough to warrant yellow cards, never mind red, although Bergomi had already been booked.
Bergomi turns on his heels and then walks back to the referee, his hands held out as if in prayer. The referee waves his left hand back and forth as if to say, ‘Not my problem’, and then points to his head to suggest that Bergomi had lost the noggin.
Mancini and Berti exchange more words before Mancini reluctantly starts to walk off. Meanwhile, a crestfallen Bergomi takes off his armband and flings it absentmindedly towards Ferri. He and Mancini then have another exchange of views. Finally, Bergomi, who looks close to tears, puts his arm round Mancini and they walk off together, united by their sense of injustice.
45+2 min Pietro D’Elia is taking his time. He’s fiddling for a card and has called somebody over towards him, Bergomi I think. Hang on, Bergomi has already been booked...
45+1 min: IT’S ALL GOING OFF NOW! Sampdoria spring forward from their own penalty area again. Dossena finds Vialli, who takes the ball in the centre circle and drives a fine angled pass towards Lombardo on the right. He stops the ball and invites a lunging tackle from Brehme. Then – abracadabra – he scoops the ball over Brehme and disappears into the area, a classic bit of wingplay.
Lombardo then cuts the ball back towards the six-yard line, where Mancini goes over after the merest touch from Paganin. No penalty. It was a clear dive, and Inter’s players – temporarily forgetful of Berti’s earlier efforts – are not happy.
Bergomi charges after Mancini, who himself is haring after the referee. Then Mancini snaps around, irked by something Bergomi said, and the two men bump chests. Berti swaggers over to tell Mancini that diving is out of order, and then shoves him in the face. The brass neck on this one!
45+1 min Sampdoria break in numbers from an Inter corner. Stringara’s interception diverts the ball to Pari, whose first-time through ball is just too heavy from Mancini. He was almost in there as well.
44 min “Fancy football on sunny afternoons in Milan surrounded by internationals are all well and good, Rob,” says Simon McMahon, “but could the likes of Lombardo, or Vialli, or Klinsmann cut it on a wet Tuesday night at, say, Palace, or Chelsea or Spurs? I doubt it. Give me the English First Division anytime.”
Bramall Lane, that would be the ultimate test. Let’s see how elegant and composed Franco Baresi is when Billy Whitehurst is rumbling towards him with malevolent intent.
43 min: Another chance for Inter! Berti’s runs from midfield are causing so many problems for Sampdoria. He storms imperiously through the inside-left channel, onto a good pass from Klinsmann, and suddenly Inter have two against one with Serena on the far side. But Berti’s first touch is fractionally light, and that allows Vierchowod to come across and make a goal-saving tackle.
Serena moans at Berti, who points out that he was trying to play the ball across. Klinsmann claps and roars at everyone and no one, trying to whip the atmosphere up even further. This is blistering stuff.
43 min Inter’s captain Bergomi is booked for a diabolical high tackle on Vialli. He hacked at a loose ball near the halfway, missed spectacularly and followed through with his studs into the side of Vialli’s knee.
41 min: KLINSMANN HAS A GOAL DISALLOWED! What’s happened here? Vialli, just inside his own half, dithered and was tackled cleanly by the sliding Ferri. The ball ran through to Klinsmann, who shielded it from the sweeper Pellegrini with three superb touches and then twisted his right leg to stab a masterful finish back across Pagliuca and into the far corner.
Klinsmann was off on a lap of honour when everyone suddenly realised that the flag was up for offside. That can only be against Klinsmann after the tackle from Ferri, but he looked a long way onside. The angle of the replays is dreadful but all the evidence suggests Pellegrini was playing him on.
39 min Ricardo Ferri, 45 yards from goal, mistakes himself for Arie Haan. Goalkick to Sampdoria.
38 min Pari finds Dossena, 10 yards inside the Inter half. He looks around for options, ignores them all and passes the ball back to Pagliuca! That might be the longest passback I’ve ever seen, though the Inter fans are not entirely enthused about Dossena’s Guinness Book of Records attempt.
36 min: Another good save from Pagliuca! It’s coming. It’s been coming since the first whistle. Brehme’s scuffed cross from the left was missed by the stretching Invernizzi on the edge of the area. It ran to Berti, who controlled the ball and opened his body in the same movement before raking a shot across goal. It wasn’t right in the corner, and Pagliuca leapt dramatically to his left to beat it away.
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35 min A TV graphic says Inter have had 53 per cent of the possession. I’ve no idea how they measure that stuff but that cannot be right. It feels more like 83 per cent.
35 min Vierchowod is down, and in a lot of pain, after accidentally kicking Klinsmann’s foot while making an interception on the halfway line. If he’s gritting his teeth, it really must hurt, as he’s the sort you can imagine refusing an anaesthetic before brain surgery. Klinsmann comes up to see if he’s okay, and the pain seems to be subsiding.
33 min: Huge penalty appeal from Inter! It’s all going off here! Stringara ran into space and slipped a pass to Berti on the right-hand side of the area. He pirouetted brilliantly inside Invernizzi to put himself through on goal – and then fell in a heap as Invernizzi tried to challenge him from the side.
The referee ignored his penalty appeals, at which point Berti showed the range of his theatrical repertoire by going down in a heap again, face first, with his hands over his head. Eventually he got up to plead with the referee. They chatted it over for 10 or 20 seconds, while simultaneously having an impromptu competition to see who could make the more demonstrative hand gestures.
Pagliuca also came over to tell Berti precisely what he thought about his gravitational issues. My instinct is that Berti was crying wolf again, but it was a risky tackle from Invernizzi. Maybe the flock has scattered after all: on Sky Sports, Trevor Francis thinks it was a penalty, and he’s a former Sampdoria player.
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32 min Berti’s acrobatic overhead kick goes well wide. For all Inter’s pressure – and it has been asphyxiating at times – Sampdoria will be happy that they haven’t created many clear chances.
31 min Cerezo, who has been booked, is late on Matthaus and immediately apologises.
28 min This is a good little spell for Sampdoria. Mancini plays a lovely pass on the turn to Cerezo, who controls it on the run and then falls over, just inside the area, after a challenge from Stringara. Cerezo appeals unsuccessfully for a penalty, and Bergomi wags a finger in his face. I don’t think it was a dive from Cerezo; he was just off balance.
27 min Paganin plays the ball towards Klinsmann on the halfway line. His marker Mannini nips in front to win the ball and keeps running, just for the hell of it. Pari finds Vialli, who plays a nice pass infield from the left. Mannini nicks it past the last man Bergomi, surges into the area and tries to find the unmarked Pari in the middle. His cross is blocked by … Klinsmann, who kept running back from the moment he lost the ball to Mannini. That diligence probably saved a goal.
27 min Bergomi, 30 yards from his own goal, plays a loose square pass that is intercepted by Mancini. Ferri then slide tackles Mancini, with the ball deflecting into the space in front of Zenga. Mancini has a yard start, but Bergomi shows impressive pace to recover and slip the ball back to the keeper.
26 min “Milan might be outsiders for the League this year, but I like what they’re building,” says Matt Dony. “They’re going to be difficult to beat next season. I really hope Sampdoria can make the most of this situation, while they have the chance. Thank goodness for Sgorio! Us simple Welsh folk get to enjoy all that exotic foreign football! Ardderchog!”
You’ll enjoy even more when you qualify for Euro 92. You heard it here first!
25 min: Fine save from Pagliuca! Stringara touches the free-kick to Matthaus, whose stinging shot is palmed behind at full stretch by Pagliuca. Matthaus has scored so often from that range in the past year or so, both with free-kicks and in open play, but Paglicua skipped across his line and dived low to his left to make a really good stop.
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25 min It’s getting hot out there. Before the free-kick is taken there is an impromptu shoving match involving Berti, Mancini, Matthaus and others.
24 min Berti twists past Cerezo, 25 yards from goal, and then takes a blatant dive. The referee D’Elia buys it and books Cerezo with a flourish. The strut of this referee is hilarious, made even more amusing by the fact his shorts look two sizes too small.
23 min Vialli, who has spent much of the game running down the left towards his own goal, wastes a bit of time by hoofing the ball out of play. The referee had already blown for a foul by Vierchowod. Vialli pretended he hadn’t heard it and lumped the ball as far as he could, prompting approximately 70,000 whistles from the home fans. He’ll have heard those, I’ll wager.
20 min Pagliuca takes the resulting goalkick to the unmarked Pellegrini, who walks around with the ball for 10 seconds and then passes it back to Pagliuca. I’m starting to think Sampdoria might have come for a draw.
19 min: So close from Klinsmann! It’s surely a matter of time before Inter take the lead. They’ve just had their best chance so far. Paganin, seeing a lot of the ball at right-back, drove a long pass towards Serena, who won the ball in the air on the edge of the area and flicked it towards Matthaus. Pari tracked him to make a vital, desperate interception but could only lob the ball back towards Serena.
He looped a quick-witted header towards the far post, which took the keeper Pagliuca out of the game as he scrambled across his line. Klinsmann and Pellegrini threw themselves at the ball three yards from goal – Klinsmann with his head, Pellegrini with a flying boot – and somehow the ball went wide of the post.
How did that not go in? Klinsmann is in the net, holding his head – I suspect because he was booted by Pellegrini rather than because of disappointment. It was definitely Klinsmann who got the touch, and having done so he should have scored. He must have been distracted by Pellegrini.
18 min Paganin lobs the ball infield towards Klinsmann on the edge of the area. Pellegrini nips in front of Klinsmann but can only divert the ball back to Paganin. He has a great chance to put Klinsmann through on goal, with Pellegrini’s momentum having taken him out of the game – but he overhits a fairly simple pass and Vierchowod is able to intercept. With a gentler touch, Klinsmann would have been in. Vierchowod could have done with a gentler touch as well; he almost ran the ball past Pagliuca, yet another example of Smapdoria’s nerves.
GOAL! Juventus 0-2 Milan (Maldini 13) Paolo Maldini has doubled Milan’s lead with a towering header that slithered through the keeper Stefano Tacconi. That game looks over already. If Inter win today, Milan will be right back in the title race.
Juventus, meanwhile, are a rabble. They were right in the title race in the middle of February; now they are struggling to qualify for the Uefa Cup.
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16 min Inter are given a free-kick 40 yards from goal. Matthaus decides to see his own 35-yard shot a moment ago and raise it, whistling a ferocious rising drive just wide of the far post. Pagliuca looks relaxed as he waves it past the post.
15 min Matthaus, the world’s best player and probably its only footballer-cyborg, picks the ball up on the halfway line and decides to take matters into his own hands. He runs forward, shifts the ball away from Cerezo and hits a fierce low shot from 35 yards that is blocked by Vierchowod.
14 min: Sampdoria almost steal the lead! Invernizzi’s cross from the right deflected off the face of Stringara and ran into no-man’s land at the near post. Mancini got to the ball, just ahead of both Ferri and the keeper Zenga, and sliced it back towards the penalty spot. Dossena controlled the ball with his gut and then smashed a half-volley into orbit. He was under pressure, with three Inter players converging, but that was still a decent opportunity. It fell to the wrong man: Dossena hasn’t scored in the league all season.
13 min And now we have the first demonstration of Sampdoria’s counter-attacking threat. Mancini, Invernizzi, Cerezo, Lombardo and Vialli are all involved in a smooth end-to-end move that, erm, ends with Lombardo’s cross being blocked by Brehme.
13 min Cerezo shanks a volleyed clearance behind for a corner, another demonstration of Sampdoria’s big-night (well, big-afternoon) nerves.
11 min Serena, in the centre circle, muscles Vierchowod aside and flicks an excellent header towards Klinsmann, wrongfooting the sweeper Pellegrini in the process. It looks like Klinsmann might be in, but his touch is unusually poor and that allows his marker Mannini to catch up and stab the ball back to Pagliuca.
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9 min Vialli tries his luck from 25 yards: throw-in to Inter. That just about sums up Sampdoria’s start.
9 min Paganin moves over the halfway line and drives a long, angled cross beyond the far post. Serena pulls away from his marker Vierchowod and heads the ball back into the path of Berti, making a typical late surge into the area. Invernizzi tracks him all the away and cushions a header back to Pagliuca. That was excellent midfield covering.
8 min Inter are all over Sampdoria like a cheap cliché. The folk behind Walter Zenga’s goal could do with binoculars, as the entire game is taking place in Sampdoria’s half.
Sampdoria know how to defend, and are tactically designed to play away from home – they’ve conceded only four goals in 14 away games this season – but they’ll do well to withstand this pressure for 90 minutes.
GOAL! Juventus 0-1 AC Milan (Simone 3) Milan are ahead at the Delle Alpi, already. The young striker Marco Simone has given them the lead with a simple finish from Marco van Basten’s mishit volleyed cross.
5 min Ferri is penalised for going through the back of Vialli. The two men shake hands, and that’s that. At least it should be, but referee D’Elia makes great play of calling Ferri over to have a word. If he’s not careful, he’s going to turn into a flower.
5 min The pace of this game is quite something. It’s like watching an English match, except they’re passing the ball to each other more often than not.
4 min Lombardo is fouled by Stringara. The referee Pietro D’Elia demonstratively waves play on and then does a jaunty heel click to avoid running into the ball.
3 min That Berti intervention at the kick-off was a statement of almost feral intent. Inter have made a hyper aggressive start, and Vialli has already had to play as a second left-back on a couple of occasions. The actual left wing-back, Dossena, in his own area, gives Sampdoria a breather by volleying the ball over the halfway line. There are no team-mates there, mainly because Vialli is standing alongside him.
2 min The atmosphere is sensational.
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1 min Vialli and Mancini kick off with all the urgency of two old fellas having a chat outside the corner shop while they try to remember what they came to the shop for in the first place. Berti is all over them like a mugger, charging off with the ball and finding Klinsmann.
Sampdoria won the return match 3-1 in December. They played with 10 men for almost an hour, after Alexei Mikhailichenko was suckered into an elbow by Giuseppe Bergomi. But the terrible twins, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, scored in the last 10 minutes to give Samp a rousing victory.
We’ll also have goal updates from the Stadio delle Alpi, where Juventus are hosting Milan. Juve’s season has collapsed since they lost at Sampdoria in February, with five defeats and only two wins from their last ten games, but Milan still have an outside chance of the title – especially if they and Inter win today.
Team news
Inter are unchanged from the team that drew 0-0 at Fiorentina a fortnight ago. Sampdoria make two changes from that nervous 3-2 win over Bari: Luca Pellegrini and Toninho Cerezo replace Marco Lanna and Ivano Bonetti. But there’s no Srecko Katanec, who has not recovered from injury; with Alexei Mikhailichenko out of favour and on the bench, Samp will start the game with only one of their three foreign players.
Indeed, the negligible influence of their overseas stars – at a time when the league is full of the world’s best – makes their performance this season even more remarkable. Mikhailichenko hasn’t started a game since February, whiole this is only Cerezo’s fourth start since he scored the winning goal against Milan on this ground in October.
Inter (4-1-3-2) Zenga; Paganin, Ferri, Bergomi, Brehme; Stringara; Bianchi, Matthaus, Berti; Serena, Klinsmann.
Substitutes: Malgioglio, Mandorlini, Baresi, Iorio, Pizzi.
Sampdoria (3-5-2) Pagliuca; Vierchowod, Pellegrini, Mannini; Lombardo, Invernizzi, Pari, Cerezo, Dossena; Mancini, Vialli.
Substitutes: Nuciari, Mikhailichenko, Branca, Lanna, Bonetti.
Referee Pietro D’Elia.
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Preamble
Hello. This match has been circled on the wallchart for months: Internazionale v Sampdoria at the San Siro, the Serie A title decider. AC Milan may have something to say about that, but the strong likelihood is that we will be watching the champions today. The equation is deliciously simple: Inter have to win, Sampdoria only need a draw to maintain control. And if they steal both points at the San Siro, they will all but clinch their first ever scudetto.
Serie A doesn’t generally do feelgood stories. This is serious, hard-nosed business, conducted and consumed with a fervour that makes religion seem almost frivolous by comparison. Sampdoria have been dreaming of the title since Paolo Mantovani bought the club 12 years ago. But the more you want something, the scarier it becomes. If they are beaten today, Sampdoria will be only one point clear - and they’ll have Inter’s volcanic breath all over their neck.
This is the league table with four games to play:
- Sampdoria 45 pts
- Inter 42
- Milan 41
- Genoa, Juventus, Parma, Torino 34
Sampdoria’s ability to cope with a cacophonous San Siro will go a long way to deciding today’s match. They were excellent in the tough away games earlier in the season – they won here against Milan, drew at Juventus and walloped the champions Napoli in that surreal game in November. But those games took place in the first half of the season, in more innocent times. We’re at the business end of the season now, and there aren’t many tomorrows.
Kick off: 4pm CET on 5 May 1991, 7.45pm BST on 6 May 2020.
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