Inter ruined Walter Zenga’s homecoming by beating Palermo 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller at the San Siro on Thursday.
Zenga had threatened to upset his former employers as his battling team fought back from a 4-0 halftime deficit to within a goal with a quarter of the game remaining, before Diego Milito settled things late on.
Former Italy goalkeeper Zenga, who spent 12 years as an Inter player, was given a standing ovation when he arrived, but his team was then ripped apart in a painful first 45 minutes, seemingly making a mockery of his pre-match claims that his side would challenge for the title.
While the first goal was down to some horrible home-team refereeing, thereafter Palermo simply could not handle Inter’s bristling attacking play as Samuel Eto’o and Mario Balotelli each bagged a brace.
Inter boss Jose Mourinho admitted he was annoyed at his team’s second-half performance.
“Obviously, I was a bit angry and a bit worried because the game should have been over,” Mourinho said. “That can happen if a team loses concentration, it was a great comeback by Palermo. Away to a big team at 4-0, you’d have thought they’d be trying to keep the score down, but instead they went going for it.”
Zenga was left ruing an uncharacteristic defensive performance.
“At the end of the first half, we conceded three goals that shouldn’t have, that was unusual for us, but we did great to come back into the game, we showed great personality and desire,” Zenga said.
Inter are now four points clear at the top of Serie A, ahead of Juventus who thumped third-placed Sampdoria 5-1 on Wednesday.
The lead came after seven minutes when the referee laughably awarded the hosts a penalty after Balotelli tried to run through an nonexistent gap between two defenders and fell over.
The teenager then tried to take the penalty off Eto’o, only to be dragged away by captain Javier Zanetti and he threw a mini-tantrum as Eto’o lashed home the spot-kick.
If that goal had been unfair on Palermo, the Sicilians could have no complaints about what happened in the rest of the half.
After Palermo goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, who played very well, had tipped a deflection off defender Dorin Goian from Eto’o’s cross onto the post, Esteban Cambiasso’s driven center came too quick for Balotelli, who headed wide with his eyes closed.
Sirigu made saves from Maicon (twice) and Eto’o, before Julio Cesar pushed away a fierce Fabrizio Miccoli free-kick up the other end.
Just past the hour mark, Cambiasso lashed a close-range shot over the bar, but on 34 minutes it was two as Balotelli rose above Australian Mark Bresciano to head home Maicon’s corner.
Palermo collapsed just before the break as Sirigu and Simon Kjaer got in each other’s way leaving Cambiasso free to head goalwards, before Balotelli got the last touch on the line.
Two minutes before the break, the 19-year-old teed up Eto’o to beat Sirigu at his near post.
At 4-0 at the break the game seemed over, but Palermo came out after the restart in determined mood and showed just why Zenga has so much faith in them.
Miccoli started the comeback on 49 minutes as he latched onto a long Simplicio through ball, held off Ivan Cordoba and chipped Julio Cesar.
That seemed to be little more than a consolation, but just past the hour mark teenage Uruguayan substitute Abel Hernandez tapped home a Mattia Cassani cross at the back post.
Midway through the half, a stunning reverse ball from Cassani with the outside of his boot — much like Ronaldinho almost copyrighted during his Barcelona days — released Miccoli between Cordoba and Davide Santon to again dink the ball over Julio Cesar.
Seven minutes from time, however, a tired-looking Palermo defense wilted and Maicon teed up substitute Milito to tap home the eighth goal from close range.
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