At Stadio Alberto Picco, Spezia held off mighty Inter in tough battle and secured a dramatic victory thanks to goals from Maldini and Nzola.
Reca, Ekdal, and Verde were replaced by Caldara, Zurkowski, and Shomurodov in Semplici’s starting lineup for Spezia.
Inzaghi decided to make 4 changes to his Inter team, starting Handanovic, D’Ambrosio, Brozovic, and Lukaku.
With a lofted pass into the box, Barella attempted to find Gosens, but the ball left the field of play for a goal kick. When defending, Spezia did not drop deeply into their own half, giving Inter players room to move.
Martinez’s goal was thwarted by a strong save from Dragowski. The goalkeeper was up to the challenge when the striker tried his luck from outside the box.
In order to prevent D’Ambrosio from attempting to score, Caldara made a crucial sliding challenge. After receiving a good pass from Martinez, the Inter player was moving very quickly towards the penalty area when Caldara showed up to make the tackle.
The referee decided to penalise Spezia for Caldara’s challenge on D’Ambrosio after consulting the video monitor and awarded Inter a penalty. Martinez’s penalty was saved by Dragowski. He detected the striker and dipped low to his left to maintain parity.
Gosens delivered a strong cross in the direction of the penalty spot, which Lukaku went after. The striker’s attempt went over the crossbar as a result of timing errors.
In the box’s edge, Lukaku tried to find a shooting angle while cutting onto his left foot, but Caldara blocked his eventual shot.
Just outside the box, Mkhitaryan connected well with a volley, but his shot narrowly missed the crossbar. Dragowski was out of position and scurried back to his line.
Martinez’s run was misread by Lukaku, allowing Dragowski to emerge and retrieve the ball. In the final third, Inter players were not trying to combine all that well.
Martinez was denied a goal by another outstanding save from Dragowski. After a weak Spezia attack, the striker was closing in on goal, but the goalkeeper leaped to tip the shot over the crossbar.
Although Martinez had the ball in the goal, but the linesman raised the flag for offside. During the buildup for Inter, Lukaku was in an offside position.
With Spezia’s opening shot of the match, Maldini scored for the team. Nzola held the ball up against two defenders before passing it to Maldini. The forward took the low shot first time and scored and gave lead to Spezia.
At the back post, Gosens had a good chance to score after Darmian’s cross fell to him favourably. He attempted to shoot on half-volley, but the opportunity was lost when his first touch was too heavy.
After falling behind by one goal, Barella advised his teammates to take it easy and not lose their cool. There were no Inter players in the box when Bastoni sent in a cross.
Before Barella had a chance to score, Martinez and Barella worked together on the edge of the box. Because Barella took too long to decide, Spezia was awarded a goal kick.
Inter’s best asset at the moment was Lukaku’s hold-up play, but the cross or final pass that the striker delivered did not challenge Dragowski.
Calhanoglu’s long ball earned Dzeko a header in the box, but he was unable to find a teammate with his knockdown.
After Ferrer fouled Dumfries in the box, Inter was awarded their second penalty of the game. For Inter, Lukaku converted a penalty shot to tie the score. After Martinez missed the opening shot, he stepped up and turned Dragowski around.
The third penalty of the contest was given by the official, and Spezia was the recipient this time. Kovalenko’s back was struck by Dumfries, causing the referee to call out a foul. Nzola scored from the penalty spot to give Spezia the advantage once more. He made a deliberate approach before slamming the ball past Handanovic, who jumped in the proper direction.
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