Italian Serie A: Bologna vs. Inter Milan - Half Time Report
Inter Milan were scheduled to take on Bologna in what was the last game of the weekend fixtures of matches in the Italian Serie A. Inter Milan came into the match on the back of a very disappointing loss to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, and were sure to be looking to even things out in this game.
On the other hand, Bologna were a relatively newer team in the top flight of Italian football, and were looking to prove a point against the reigning champions.
Two changes were made by Rafa Benitez to the Inter Milan side that lost to Atletico Madrid; those changes were Stankovic making way for Pandev and Mariga replacing the injured Maicon.
The line-ups for tonight’s game were as follows:
BOLOGNA: Viviano, Esposito, Portanova, Britos, Rubin, Mudingayi, Ekdal, Casarini, Garics, Gimenez, Di Vaio.
INTER: Julio Cesar, Zanetti, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu, Mariga, Cambiasso, Pandev, Sneijder, Eto'o, Milito
Going into the game, the obvious favorites were Inter Milan; however, the home team wasn't one to be counted out, since over the past they have shown that they are capable of pulling upsets.
The match got underway with Inter Milan dominating the possession for most of the opening few minutes. At one point, the visiting team had ninety percent of the possession.
However, it was the home team that created the first chance of the game, against the run of play. A long ball for Marco Di Vaio on the fourteenth minute was hooked away by Lucio but straight into the path of Gimenez who lobbed his first time effort over Julio Cesar, but the ball flew over the bar, to Inter's relief.
From then on, it was back to Inter dominating possession of the ball once again, and Bologna seeming more than content with just defending.
Inter soon began to grow frustrated and Wesley Sneijder was the first player to get booked for a late tackle on Casarini; it was a tackle that would have made Paul Scholes proud.
Esposio was also shown a yellow card later on, when he clearly obstructed the path of Wesley Sneijder, when Inter looked to be on the break for a dangerous attack.
In the last five minutes, both teams had good chances; a volley by Gimenez just barely went over the post, while three minutes later Sneijder sent a free kick just past the top of the wood work.
At the half time break, the scores were level at nil all.
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