Wonder goal against Southampton gives Inter Milan momentary relief

Remember when Inter Milan won the treble? Recall when Jose Mourinho stalked the sideline as his black-and-blue machinery won Serie A for a fifth year in a row – as it would later transpire, in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal and Juventus’s retroactively canceled titles – lifted the Italian Cup and upset Bayern Munich in the final of the Champions League?

That was the 2009-10 season.

On Thursday, Inter was immensely fortunate to win 1-0 against Southampton, which was by far the more dangerous side – courtesy of several big saves by Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic. At home. For Inter’s first win in three UEFA Europa League group stage games, the previous two of which were lost. In the 67th minute, Antonio Candreva brought enormous relief to the club’s beleaguered fans when he smashed Davide Santon’s well-placed cross into the near top corner for a wonder goal.

An idiotic tackle by Marcelo Brozovic on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg reduced the Italians to 10 men late on, but they managed to hold on to a desperately needed win.

Because since that treble, Inter has been in freefall. The next year, Rafa Benitez succeeded Mourinho – who was off to Real Madrid – and oversaw instant decay. He was soon fired and replaced by Leonardo, who salvaged second place. But before long, Inter strung together league finishes of sixth, ninth, fifth, eighth and fourth places while burning through five more managers.

Granted, Mourinho had left behind a very old team, a generation of world-beaters brought together to exert one last spasm of greatness. But the way the club spiraled ever downward was disheveling. After recording nine top-three finishes in 10 Serie A seasons, Inter has yet to get one since.

Several ownership changes, thoughtless managerial appointments and disappointing performances from expensively acquired players conjoined to form a monstrous half-decade crisis for one of the sport’s most regal and laureled clubs.

A new Chinese ownership installed longtime Ajax manager Frank de Boer 10 days before the season and put up the money to buy two of the biggest prospects in the sport: Portuguese midfielder Joao Mario and Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa, who mostly just goes by Gabigol.

But the results have been slow in coming, if they’ve come at all. De Boer has won just three of eight Serie A games – albeit, crucially, Inter did beat Juventus 2-1 – and has lost the last two in a row. That has put Milan in 11th place, already 10 points off leader Juventus. The misery was made worse by a home loss to Hapoel Be’er Sheva and an away loss to Sparta Prague.

To make things worse, captain and star striker Mauro Icardi published an autobiography – as a 23-year-old – in which he claimed to have stood up to the leader of one of the club’s band of ultras. At the next game, the fans jeered him, insulted him in banners and cheered when he missed a penalty – for their own club. Icardi apologized and somehow retained his captaincy.

Also, things were so bad that de Boer – whose hiring was seen as a good get for a struggling power not so long ago, given his success at Ajax with four league titles in his first 3½ seasons – was reportedly already on the hot seat going into Thursday’s Southampton game, although the club denied it. He’d been in the job for just over two months.

With this spare win, de Boer’s job seems safe for now. For a few more days, at least. And just maybe Inter will finally give a manager the chance to sort out the historic club’s epic mess.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.