Inter-ness + Viola: Ugh.
(Yeah, alright. That was pretty sweet.)
I'm clearly getting even grumpier in my old age, because I thought that match was just dire. Neither team seemed to have any ideas, Inter looked tired from the United match, and Fiorentina, while much better than they have been lately, didn't create much, and failed to finished what they did. Apart from Zlatan's second goal and Mutu's misses, there really wasn't anything of note to take away from the match -- basically, Inter finished and Fiorentina didn't, so they got the points.
Inter's lead at the top is still seven, while La Viola have dropped to a tie for fifth with Roma, two points behind fourth-place Genoa.
[Apologies in advance for these being organizationally murky. Since Inter won, it's mostly organized around them, but also not. Like I said, murky.]
Inter 2 - 0 Fiorentina; full HD highlights here
Ibrahimovic 11, 94 (I)
Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Samuel, Chivu (Figo 46), Santon; Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari; Stankovic (Rivas 85); Ibrahimovic, Balotelli (Mancini 82)
Fiorentina: Frey; Comotto, Gamberini, Kroldrup, Vargas; Jorgensen (Donadel 80); Kuzmanovic (Jovetic 75), Montolivo (Bonazzoli 84); Felipe Melo; Gilardino, Mutu
Before the match, both coaches were getting their pose on.
(Jesus, who is that in virtual tights over there? Rui?)
Bored.
Boooooored.
BORED.
So terribly bored. (DDV had to go because Mutu invited him to the match, so he could see the Real Men perform. Yeah, that went well.)
In addition to DDV, several thousand Viola fans made the trip, too.
Including the Jojo fanatic, who got some personal TV time at half. Good work, Jojo guy!
Inter fans were pretty awesome, too -- an actual, human translation of this is "Well done Manchester, but we are also a great team. With Moratti and Mourinho, we're (moving) forward." (&hearts)
Speaking of being bored.
Oh, Luish. Such a card! (Poor Mancini has no idea how to handle this situation.)
Damn, check out Toldone. (Does the P mean portiere? What is with keepers wearing their positions on their clothes?)
Right, it's go time. (Notice that Chivu was dragged out of sickbay to start. That didn't last long.)
He made it through a half before he had to go get wrapped back up in cotton wool. (While he was on, he fell down to create Fiorentina's first chance. The pitch is made of soap, but he also falls down a LOT.)
Figo went on for him. He was his usual, fairly hard-working, totally ineffective self. (But: Mmmm ... Figo and Melo in the same picture.)
Obviously, Figo did not play in the middle of the back -- for the second Serie A match in a row, Cuchu turned into a central defender.
And, as expected, he did the job admirably well. Since, you know, he can pretty much do anything.
Inter's only actual, healthy CB was Walter.
He was fine, but the undeniable high point of his day was saving JC's ass when he spilled a shot with Gila closing in on him. (The intervention earned Walter some groping by JC -- are you paying attention, other CBs?) LOL @ Jojo in suspense in the background.
Things were very exciting for Inter's defense very early in the match.
Cos when Chivu fell down, that ended with Mutu in entirely alone on JC.
JC got down well, and Mutu put it into his legs.
So much fail.
"Oh for god's sake, Adi."
"Like this, just chip it over him. How hard is that?"
And it only got worse from there, because in the second half, Melo put him in on goal on the counter and, instead of dumping it across for Gila, Adi went for glory himself.
This face pretty much says all you need to know about how that went.
Erm. Sorry?
Based on the pictures, it appears that Mutu actually did do things other than blowing Fiorentina's best chances.
I say "appears" because I'll be damned if I can remember him doing anything else.
(Oh yeah, Adi, it's his fault. Sure it is.)
You know I love him more than pretty much any other footballer, but the man was just totally useless last night.
All this right after his big speech about reacting and being real men, too. In retrospect, possibly not the best idea.
Ohai, Gila! We were just talking about you.
Thanks for shaving, man.
Compared to Mutu, he was a freaking wonder. (By normal standards, he was probably just alright.)
If nothing else, he can always be counted on to bust his ass, no matter how the game's going. (Plus DDV told him to stop strolling, so he had to show The Man his true nature.)
And, when he wasn't dancing with Walter, he was usually around the goal, trying to cause trouble (in a good way).
He had one half-chance in the first half, when JC just barely beat him to the ball.
His best moment, though, was a sick shot with the outside of his right foot from a Vargas cross. Total magic, and JC had to be seriously alert to get to it. (Which explains the anguished disbelief.)
(In case you hadn't figured it out by now, JC was a hero, once again.)
Not only did he make ridiculous saves, but he also got a card for dissent. (He must be getting sick of only saving Inter asses, and wants to be more involved.)
Returning to the guys in front of JC, Maicon was pretty good, I think -- he's not back to his best, but he's getting better.
Evidence of his return to form: Hardcore muppet action.
On the other side of the pitch, Santon had an exciting day.
On the one hand, he and his carefully groomed eyebrows were battling with Comotto and Mutu defensively, trying to keep the Viola attack under control.
And, at least from what I can remember, he did pretty well defensively.
He still dribbles freakishly loose going forward (I assume the problem is his left foot), but for the most part it was a pretty solid match for Il Bambino.
Plus, he very nearly scored in about the 90th minute when Zlatan played him in 1 v 1, but Seb was up to the challenge.
Sandwiched amidst all the good things, though, is the fact that he almost killed Comotto.
Fiorentina were countering off an Inter corner, and challenging for the ball (which he really was never going to get), Santon's cleats caught the side of Comotto's chest. Thank god he didn't catch him full on, or it could have been really, really bad.
Ogle.
OGLE.
*ahem* The ref let play go on (this was the chance Mutu screwed up rather than passing to Gila), then came back and only gave Santon a yellow. Comotto (and most everyone else) disagreed with the color of the card.
Because he's a hockey player fierce as hell, Comotto didn't even think about going off.
He's got bruised ribs and a cut (you don't say), but hopefully he'll be ok to play next weekend.
Speaking of fierce Fiorentina players.
A week after making his triumphant return in the trequartista spot, Jorgy moved back to play in front of the defense, which he's done rarely, if every before.
If you ask the fan sites, he was Fiorentina's best player. If you ask the papers (but ignore Gazzetta), the fan sites are right, more or less. &hearts (Can you people please get his extension sorted out now?)
Because of where he was on the pitch, Jorgy got a lot of quality time with Deki.
(If they know what's up, they both appreciated the opportunity.)
As usual, Deki worked his ass off, if to limited actual effect. He did have one sort of good chance, though passing to Zlatan in front of goal might have been a better option than shooting. (Deki was sorry, mostly.)
He was ridiculously happy when he went off, it was like he didn't realize it was still only 1-0, or something.
While we're on the topic of faux trequartistas, Melo played up behind the strikers yesterday, for the first time since he arrived in Florence.
The idea of putting him further forward was to have a physical presence bothering Cuchu the whole match, though Cuchu moving into the back sort of mooted that plan.
He wasn't ask involved as he is when he sits deeper but still made some great passes, though the fans sites all thought he was terrible. (Gazzetta named him Viola MOTM. So there, haters.)
(How is he still so attractive with that awful, modified Ronaldo 'do? HOW?)
Continuing with the midfield theme.
Yesterday, Javi tied Giacinto Facchetti for second-most appearances ever in an Inter shirt. &hearts
Muntari's played a whole lot fewer Inter matches than Javi.
He also has significantly less impressive thighs, but it's hard to really hold that against him.
He was Muntari. Which means, in the words of Corriere dello Sport, "Impalpable and confused." Ouch!
He really doesn't do much, but there is the endless running, which makes him hard to hate. (Seriously, look at this midfield. He's the best option, and Figo is the next one? Good LORD.)
Similarly useless (and with similar amounts of ferocious running, albeit with slightly less ball-winning) was Kuzi. Who doesn't actually have the gut he appears to have in this picture.
Because Kuzi wasn't really doing anything, Jojo took over the running-away-from-Muntari duty late in the match.
He offered more, from both dead balls and open play, but still didn't threaten JC that I can recall.
Monty also struggled. A lot.
He had one great, long-range strike off a corner, but other than that he really did nothing. Poor dude just can't do anything these days.
As has become the norm lately, Mario started up top with Zlatan.
And, as has also (very happily) become the norm, he worked his tail off.
(There were, though, still some finer points of his game to work on.)
He lacked precision sometimes and still needs to quit expressing his frustration by kicking people, but he's getting better at the latter.
There were racist chants (again), but he handled them better this time, as depressing as it is that he (or anyone else) has to deal with that sort of shit.
Oh, and he also assisted on the first goal -- apart from one, his dead ball service was much better than they had been against United.
And then we have Zlatan, and his Knee that Never Healed.
Inter's main attacking idea on the day seemed to be kicking the ball really far, and hoping Zlatan could bring it down.
As a result, he and Krol spent a whole lot of time banging into one another, falling down, and hoping the fouls would be called in their favor.
(This one was not a foul. Zlatan wanted a PK, but if anything it looked like he stepped on Krol's foot and rolled his ankle.)
It actually seemed like Krol is taller than Zlatan. Is that possible?
Ok, not here, but Krol looked damn tall most of the match. If he really is that big, why doesn't he eat people more often?
*insert groin-tearing sound here*
(... Is Jorgy actually like 5'2"?)
So, the goals.
Right after JC denied Mutu 1 v 1, Zlatan and Seb both went for Mario's free kick.
Seb went with his hands, and Zlatan used his foot. Obviously.
Cesare and Frey thought Zlatan's boot was dangerously high, while some referee admin guy said there was enough space between them, so it was fine. (The ref in the house thought it was alright, which is really all that mattered.)
(And Seb said that Zlatan apologized for scaring him, so they're over it. Thank goodness.)
Seb got there first, and his punch sort of clattered into Zlatan's body.
Including his arm, but there was nothing intentional about the contact.
Zlatan somehow managed to realize what was going on quick enough to get his head to the ball, and send it toward the goal.
Zlatan's brain: Oh! Goal! Open goal!
Krol and Gambit couldn't quite get there, and it snuck in.
Seb: *flap*
Zlatan: *prance*
A scary, crazy-eyed prance.
Is he winking?! I think it's best that we all pretend that never happened.
(Zlatan agrees.)
Muntari ignored the wink, and just went in for a hug.
Oh, look who's coming -- surprise, surprise.
Daw! Shorty.
(Just ignore the giant "VIDEO!" sign, and look at Deki's blissful little face, alright?)
(Muntari's not so sure Deki came through that able to go back and play right away.)
Between Zlatan's goals, Special managed to get himself sent off.
He was a little pissy, particularly in the second half.
Then, in injury time, he decided that Melo should have received a second yellow, and thew a huge strop.
"WAAAAAH!"
That fourth official is good, what with the pretending just to be walking there, but happening to be in perfect position to control the Special 'Splosion.
Jose: *throws all his toys out of the pram*
Muntari: *can't resist a fight and runs over to help*
L. O. L.
Notice how no one is looking at him, while Deki is unable to look anywhere else. Oh dear.
(While all this was going on, the tifosi were rapturous singing Special's his name. Just FYI.)
"What? You can't see me! I'm blending in!"
"What up, Mario?"
"Ah, you know. Haters be hatin'."
"I feel you, man. For real."
Pretty much the moment play resumed, this happened.
Off the underside of the bar from 32 yards.
Just completely sick.
Yeah. You know it's special when the other team's best free kick-taker shakes your hand. While the match is still going on.
Muntari: I HAS A ZLATAN!
Zlatan: There's something not right here. Why is my balance off?
Zlatan: *unceremoniously dumps Muntari off, so he can RAWR properly*
"COME ON BITCHES. COME ON!"
(Muppet sighting.)
Because Jose had been banished and couldn't glomp Zlatan himself, Oriali ran out in his place.
Oriali seemed to celebrate by grabbing Zlatan's hair while Maicon shook him. Hey, whatever works.
(Walter celebrates by a little groping. Good for you, Walter.)
Aw. Mutu wishes someone would congratulate him on a job well done.
He realizes, however, that that's unlikely to happen after the performance he turned in, so instead he just tried to apologize.
Mmmm ... Melo. What does his shirt say? He loves something? At least he's not belonging to Jesus (yet).
Daw.
DAW!
Up next for Inter is a visit from Reggina, which they'll play without Special and without 95% of their central defenders; Fiorentina host Siena, with Dainelli back from suspension.