Lautaro Martinez netted twice on Wednesday as Inter produced a 2-1 comeback win over ACF Fiorentina to defend the Coppa Italia trophy.
It is the second trophy that the Nerazzurri have won this season after beating AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana in January — when Martinez also scored.
After a couple of matches to finish up Serie A, Martinez and Inter are to aim for one more trophy when they face Manchester City in the Champions League final on June 10 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Photo: AP
“In all honesty, I am moved, because for a couple of years we have been bringing trophies to this great club and we’ve got to continue this way,” said Martinez, who also played a big role when Inter won Serie A in 2020-2021.
“I want to keep contributing for Inter, because that’s what matters,” he added.
Martinez now has a career-best 27 goals across all competitions for Inter this season, having also helped Argentina win the FIFA World Cup in December last year. He is also the only player to have appeared in all 54 of Inter’s matches this season.
Photo: AP
The match at the Stadio Olimpico was lively from the start as Nicolas Gonzalez put Fiorentina ahead three minutes in following a lapse by Inter’s defense.
A cross from Jonathan Ikone was allowed to float across the area for Gonzalez to knock in at the far post.
Then Martinez took over to put Inter ahead before the break.
Photo: EPA-EFE
First, a perfectly placed through ball from Marcelo Brozovic set up the equalizer as Martinez ran onto the pass and scored with an angled shot into the far corner for his 100th goal with Inter.
Then Martinez produced an acrobatic volley to redirect in a pass from Nicolo Barella.
Martinez also nearly produced another goal when he set up Edin Dzeko with only the goalkeeper to beat, but Dzeko’s shot sailed high over the bar.
Photo: AFP
Fiorentina are to play West Ham United in the Europa Conference League final on June 7.
“We were hoping for a different result, but this will serve as experience and preparation for what to expect on a mental level and how to handle the match for the Conference League final,” Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Italiano said.
It is the ninth Coppa Italia title for Inter, while Nerazzurri manager Simone Inzaghi has now won seven of his eight finals as a manager.
Photo: AP
“We started poorly and had the wrong approach, which is rare for us, but the guys did well to stay in the game anyhow and then turn it around,” Inzaghi said. “The team is improving match by match.”
EARLY LOSSES: Some sports have already started at the Asian Games in Hangzhou ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday, including volleyball, with a Taiwan loss South Korea’s bid for a third straight men’s gold medal in soccer at the Asian Games got off to the perfect start with a 9-0 thrashing of Kuwait on Tuesday, but coach Hwang Sun-hong is giving his players little time to enjoy it. With a more testing group match against Thailand today, Hwang is wary of complacency creeping in after his side ran riot against Kuwait in Jinhua, China, southwest of host city Hangzhou. “We’ll pretend this match never happened,” Hwang said after the Kuwait game, Yonhap news agency reported. “We have even more difficult matches coming up later, and we have
‘NOTHING HAS CHANGED’: Jenni Hermoso said that the striking players had been ‘caught by surprise’ by the call-ups, saying it was a strategy to intimidate them Striking Spanish internationals called up to the women’s team on Monday reiterated their desire not to form part of the squad in a new blow for the shaken the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). However, they were told by the government early yesterday that those who did not attend the team’s camps when called up would have to be punished. Spanish National Sports Council president Victor Francos said he would have to apply the country’s sports law. “If they don’t turn up, the government would have to apply the law, which is a pity for me, but the law is the
China hopes to make a splash with the Asian Games, which officially open tomorrow, but nationwide excitement has been muted as the economy sputters and some question the cost of the sporting extravaganza. Delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic, the quadrennial Games, kicking off in the eastern city of Hangzhou, will be China’s biggest sporting event in more than a decade, with more than 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competing in 40 sports. Organizers this week expressed confidence in holding a “magnificent” Games, thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “important instructions” and great, broad-based efforts. Analysts agree the event would likely
Hong Kong is one of the smaller Asian Games teams by population, but when it comes to fencing the territory is a regional heavyweight with ambitious medal hopes. Edgar Cheung won gold at the Tokyo Games two years ago — Hong Kong’s first Olympic fencing title and first Olympic gold in any sport in 25 years. It turned Cheung into a celebrity overnight and prompted parents across the territory to rush and sign their children up for fencing classes. Cheung’s historic win in the foil competition was a much-needed dose of good news for a territory mired in social unrest and COVID-19 gloom