Italy International Duo Produce Solid Displays For Inter Milan Despite Serie A Loss To AC Milan

Alessandro Bastoni and Francesco Acerbi looked solid in defense for Inter Milan against AC Milan despite the derby loss.

This is the view in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews.

As a team, Inter were a long way from their best in yesterday’s Serie A clash with city rivals Milan.

This was perhaps most apparent in midfield.

The Nerazzurri had few answers for Milan’s approach of trying to clog the centre of the pitch. They were not able to play with anything like their usual freedom and fluidity.

And in attack, Inter looked blunt in the Rossoneri penalty area. They had few good chances to score.

Milan were comfortably in playing aggressively and trying to force counterattacking situations all match long.

And this was the route by which the Rossoneri ended up creating their chances and winning.

Inter keeper Yann Sommer was unquestionably the best performer for Inter on the night. But for the Swiss, the scoreline could have looked a lot worse for Inter.

But in the view of Tuttosport, two players from Inter’s back three put in good shifts.

Bastoni & Acerbi Praised For Defensive Displays Despite Inter Loss To AC Milan

Defender Alessandro Bastoni proved to be a key cog at the back for Inter once again.

The 25-year-old’s positional sense and one-on-one defending were more than adequate.

Then Bastoni did do his best to play proactively and link up with the midfield to get Inter up the pitch.

Acerbi, meanwhile, did the job that he had to do marking Milan’s physical centre-forward Tammy Abraham.

The former Lazio defender was unable to stop Christian Pulisic on Milan’s opener.

But the blame for that lay more on other Inter players, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan losing possession and then other Inter players allowing him to stroll through midfield.

In the view of Tuttosport, Inter defender Benjamin Pavard looked out of sorts. The positioning of Pulisic and Rafael Leao seemed to confuse the Frenchman and give him little to do.

But Acerbi, on the other hand, largely had a solid and unspectacular match as his team’s last line of defense.