SAN FRANCISCO, November 22, (THEWILL) –Â Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku inspired a remarkable second-half comeback on Sunday as Inter recovered from 2-0 down to beat Torino 4-2 and claim their first win for almost a month.
Marco Giampaolo’s visiting Torino came into the match with only a solitary Serie A win to their name this season but belied that meagre return as they had this game by the lapels from the onset.
The hosts found themselves struggling throughout the opening period. Their reprieve came when Alessandro Bastoni hauled down Zaza when in on goal. But, the Torino forward was the one penalised for a handball.
Conte’s men failed to heed that fair warning when Zaza latched on to Soualiho Meite’s backheel in first-half stoppage time and lashed a brilliant left-footed strike past goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
Despite resuming on the front foot, Inter went a whole hour without testing Salvatore Sirigu in the Torino goal only making their task of coming back into the game steeper.
In the 62nd minute, a long VAR review proved that Ashley Young was correctly penalised for kicking Wilfried Stephane Singo in the chest when he misjudged a clearance. Ansaldi dispatched the penalty awarded down the middle of the goal.
Going two goals behind belatedly sparked Inter into action. Lukaku insistently drove at the Torino defence. He hit the bar once, before making enough of a nuisance of himself in the ensuing scramble for Sanchez to thump into an unguarded net.
Suddenly, Torino were rattled allowing a more coordinated Lukaku to hit the outside of the post and take advantage of a Sanchez’s low cross later to tap in his first for the equaliser.
Centre back Nicolas Nkoulou became the latest defender to call VAR into action when he kicked Achraf Hakimi rather than the ball. Lukaku sent Sirigu the wrong way in the penalty given.
The ex-Manchester United man then linked with Croatian winger Ivan Perisic in the sweeping move that got striker Lautaro Martinez on the scoresheet via a simple finish to wrap up proceedings.
Inter will hope to revive their ailing Champions League hopes when they host Real Madrid on Wednesday. Torino on the other hand, have a considerably less appealing fixture a day later when they welcome Virtus Entella in the Coppa Italia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
