Maurizio Sarri assures there’s ‘no debate’ on Lazio’s second goal in a 3-1 win over Inter, as ‘you only get these arguments in Italy,’ and explains why he dropped Luis Alberto.
“I saw from the start that we were in the game against a good side, but we only went behind on a penalty,” Sarri told DAZN.
“I told the lads, if we keep going like this, we won’t lose. I was right, we just needed that moment to get back into the match.”
Serie A | Lazio 3-1 Inter: Inzaghi overturned at the Olimpico
Ivan Perisic had opened the scoring with a penalty, cancelled out by Ciro Immobile’s spot-kick, but the controversy was the second goal.
Felipe Anderson finished off a counter-attack with Federico Dimarco down injured, although Inter had the ball when he first sustained the knock and carried on playing with Lautaro Martinez’s shot on target.
“There’s no debate. Dimarco was down and Inter went to have a shot on goal. If anyone had to put it out of play at that time, it was them, and they did not. It’s a clear situation, they legitimised continuing play.
“There’s a very clear rule, you only see these complaints in Italy. In Europe, in the Champions League, that doesn’t happen. It’s only in Italy.
“We struggled in the first half with Inter’s width, so we needed to cut off those channels and prevent the crosses.”
Luiz Felipe was sent off after the final whistle for ‘mocking’ Joaquin Correa, although the defender was in tears and argued he had just been joking with a good friend.
“He told me the referee sent him off, but he was only going to say hello to Correa, seeing as they are good friends and played together a long time. There was presumably a horrible misunderstanding.
“Acerbi was given a two-match ban for ‘intimidatory behaviour’ without lifting a finger, so I shouldn’t be too surprised this was considered a red card… Felipe Anderson was practically physically attacked after the goal, I expected to see red cards flying then…”
Sarri pulled a surprise with his starting XI, dropping Luis Alberto in favour of Toma Basic in midfield.
“We need to find some solidity. We need solid foundations and then we can build the quality on that, but Basic brings intensity, dynamism and physicality,” explained the coach.
“Luis Alberto is a very important player for us and he did provide the assist for the third goal when he came off the bench. His characteristics, but also his temperament, mean that he does drop the level of intensity at times. Considering the aerobic tests we perform, he is capable of being more intense consistently through a game.”
Sarri complained this week that football was becoming ‘just about money’ and he was furious with the packed fixture list.
“I merely wanted to say that all the things I first fell in love with about this sport are less present nowadays. If you play every three days and get half-an-hour to prepare for a game, you don’t get time to work with individuals and improve the players.
“I still love this work, but a bit less than I did,” concluded the former banker who started in the lower divisions.
La rabbia di Sarri: "Felipe Anderson aggredito, mi aspettavo di veder volare dei rossi" https://t.co/8YjyIkSPw7
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) October 16, 2021
