Francesco Acerbi scored a beautiful header to give Simone Inzaghi’s team the victory over Parma after Lautaro Martinez forced extra time.
Even though Inter came within a few minutes of being eliminated from the Coppa Italia on Tuesday, Simone Inzaghi praised his team’s players for “playing less.”
The holders were down 1-0 against Serie B team Parma with three minutes left at San Siro, but Lautaro Martinez drew them level, and Francesco Acerbi scored the game-winning goal in extra time to save their faces and advance them to the quarterfinals.
Simone Inzaghi was not in the mood to linger on the 2-2 tie that occurred in Serie A over the weekend; instead, he praised the players.
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“The whole world saw what happened in Monza, but we were only interested in this game,” the Nerazzurri head coach said. “We were doing fairly well even if we had to move the ball better. Then with their goal it got complicated, but I had an excellent response from those who play less.
“I would have liked to avoid extra time, but last year too with Empoli [3-2 win after extra time] it was difficult.”
Before Martinez forced an equaliser in the 88th minute, Inter was down thanks to a fantastic effort from replacement Stanko Juric in the 38th minute. Acerbi responded to a punched clearing from seasoned goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the second round of extra time by heading the ball over the 44-year-old and into the goal.
For a significant portion of the game, Parma was on level with their opponents, but Simone Inzaghi said he was proud of his team’s effort.
“Those who have played the least have given excellent answers, we must continue like this,” he added. “In the Champions League we have gone beyond expectations, in the league we lost points at the start, but there are many games to go.”
