Siena v Inter: Siena Do Not Suck

By: Martha | January 13th, 2008

Yays From the start of the match Siena were up to the task — they never looked even remotely intimidated, and stuck well to their game plan of limiting space in their end and countering with control when they could. Inter played some nice one-twos but never turned them into shots on goal, while at the other end Siena had a lot of possession around the box, and looked very much worthy of their solid defensive record at home. Neither team was able to really get control of the match, but Inter opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark when the referee awarded them a penalty, claiming Julio Cruz had been taken down in the box. It was a bizarre decision, since all that happened is that Cruz ran into Paul Codrea (from the referee’s position, it may have looked as if a high boot got Cruz, but it didn’t), and Siena were understandably pissed off. Though Alex Manninger guessed right, Zlatan Ibrahimovic slid the ball past him for a 1-0 lead.

Siena turned around and stormed the other way, though, and equalized just a few minutes later when either Massimo Maccarone or Ivan Ramiro Cordoba bundled the ball across the line from a move started by a delicate cross from Tomas Locatelli, who had a great first half. Siena continued to pressure Inter and to make things difficult for the visitors, so it must have been heartbreaking when their failure to clear a deep Luis Jimenez cross let to a defender getting accidentally nutted by Cristian Chivu and, eventually, Zlatan slipping the ball through to a sliding Esteban Cambiasso, who put Inter back in front with the last kick of the half.

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Ibrahimovic made it 3-1, taking a pass from Chivu (who, as much as it pains me to say it, actually played well at his wide midfield position) and crushing the ball into the top corner of Manninger’s net from a wide angle. It was completely unstoppable, and sent the RAI announcer — who until that point had mostly been really excited about anything Siena did — into fits of ecstasy. For the next 20 minutes or so, Inter more of less controlled the match, keeping possession much more effectively and trying to kill the game off. When Pele replaced Jimenez, though, and Inter switch back to a 4-4-2, Siena came back into the game with a vengeange and, were it not for the two-goal cushion, things would have been seriously terrifying.

Julio Cesar had to make a point-blank save from youngster Daniele Corvia (whose quiet productivity during his 45 minutes in the pitch was really impressive, and provided a sharp contrast to the constant bitching and moaning of Maccarone and Daniele Galloppa), and the home side went close on several other occasions. At the other end, Ibrahimovic and Cruz both squandered fantastic chances to put the game away, and Siena’s baby Argie (he’s not yet 18) Fernando Forestieri dragged his side into a scoreline more representative of the match with a his first Serie A goal, late in injury time.

I feel like I say this practically every time I watch a bottom club play (except for Catania), but why on earth are Siena in the drop zone? Their attack created all kinds of chances and, while I’m not saying Inter’s defense doesn’t have its pitiful moments, if Siena can trouble Inter, they certainly ought to be able to trouble a lot of other people. I know close only counts in horseshoes and all, but the Bianconeri fought their asses off today, and did it with a lot of skill and intelligence — surely on the long run that’ll earn them enough points to stay up?