Inter Milan 1-3 AS Roma - Post-match Performances Commentary

Inter Milan 1-3 Roma.

It was a good game to watch, specially if we consider that it was an open game, end to end.

Enjoyed Francesco Totti, Marquinho and Stekelenburg's performances for the away side.
I refuse to say that Osvaldo is up there with the Man of the Match mentions because of his stupid red card at the end and that's why Osvaldo doesn't deserves to be at Milan, Inter or Juventus. He shows no-brain decisions on moments that can cost his team(s) something in the future. Though, he scored a great goal and made another great, trivela, assist to Marquinho's goal.
Totti had those two great assists, but the second, for the wonder goal of Osvaldo, was purely amazing. He runs as much as Andrea Pirlo does for Juventus, but the class is there, as is Pirlo's.
Marquinho was consistent and in the end he scored a great goal, in which we can also blame Castelazzi, specially considering that he is an experienced goalkeeper (he can never suffer that goal), but that doesn't takes credit from Marquinho at all. He likes to get up the field and he risks the shot a lot.
Stekelenburg had two great rushes, but the one that sticks out the most is the one on Milito's feet that even led to some penalty appeal's, with no sense. It was a shame the TV didn't show his good save in the stoppage time to Sneijder's bicycle kick.

From Inter... Sneijder, Nagatomo and Álvaro Pereira deserve a good mention.
Sneijder is always the watch. He is consistent, always on the ball and always active. His heart at the end of the game is always racing and today it was no different. Absolute class with the ball on his feet. He deserved better contribution by Cassano and Milito up front.
Nagatomo has four lungs. He was always running and seemed a warrior sometimes. But with the ball on his feet he has to think a lot better. Still, a good complement to Álvaro's runs in the attack.
Álvaro Pereira was being "bullied" by Porto and was training alone for nearly 2 months and that was shown today. He was everywhere and he did a good match, but near the 60th minute he was tired and couldn't take it anymore, so he got replaced, but he is, without a doubt, a World Class left back. His skills were shown and his style as well with that tribute to Recoba on the socks.

LAZIO Vs Roma: "Laziale" MOTM Quick Analysis

Great match by Lazio on Sunday.

I really enjoyed to see the "old" likes of Brocchi, Klose, André Dias or Cissé, playing with this kids (Gago, Pjanic, Osvaldo), heads. They were really in.

Klose had a typical class match of his. Holding the possession of the ball with his backs turned to the goal, and then, involved on every single offensive move of Lazio, with or without the ball. And of course, he was there to give the win.

Cissé was pretty great. I watched (well, I downloaded it) the match with ESPN coverage and it's commentator was really annoying and persistent when he was saying that Cissé was having a poor match.... eh, disagree. For his age he's still fast and he can decide quickly. I've had A LOT of chances to watch him for Panathinaikos and I thought he was still the "Superstar", the "Individualist", but heck, he changed a lot. He gave a couple of good balls and on the start of the second half he had the chance to score the 1-1, though, he decided fast enough to make a poor shot. His movements were crucial and when he went to the center, Roma didn't had a chance to breather (also, thanks to Hernanes move to the left side).

Hernanes was Hernanes. He's really top class. No news about it. He's still the same amazing player (wow, it's really rare to see me saying this about anyone), that I watched on his debut for São Paulo. Plays with both feet, and that tells a lot, and then, he is the type of player that can change a match, just like he did for this match.

Brocchi and André Dias were class as well. Dias had the chance to mark Bojan and / or Osvaldo, and he was really good at it. Konko left Osvaldo slip, on his goal, but then Osvaldo rarely did anything except a backheel pass to Angel, major thanks to the Brazilian. Brocchi was fulcral with his positioning and ball distribution. He had the brains and the emotion to control the team. He hold on Gago and Pjanic's youth (though I'de say they are not good as "they" say) and conquered the penalty. Had to leave because an injury, which is sad.

Lulic and Matuzalem substitutions where the culmination of everything. The Bosnian was simply surprising on the left side, helping Hernanes with his maneuvers. And Matuzalem gave a classy-touch to the midfield, full of flair and with that magnificent assist to Klose's goal.

- Roberto Rivelino