A Ten Man Inter Gets a Crucial Away Win in La Plata.

By: Mauro | November 27th, 2008

Well, unfortunately I missed this match. I know, of all the matches to miss, but it was for a real life changing reason. One that I won’t be sharing here my dear readers. I have read some match reports and can give you an idea of what happened. And couple that with the video above, you can get an idea of what happened on Wednesday night.

For my birthday today, Inter and Estudiantes gifted me a really great match at the start — at least that’s what I’m taking from this one. Estudiantes had the initiative and Inter conceded possession and the space for them to be better looking than they were against Argentinos. Rotating player positions, seeking out space and touching the ball around to one another, this was an Estudiantes side that was decidedly looking to win this match.

But as in the Semi-final against Argentinos, Estudiantes were much more dangerous on dead ball situations. But the real advantage Estudiantes needed came in the 24th minute when Pablo Guiñazú was sent off with his second yellow of the match while trying to stop the great production the Argentine side had up to this point. Red Card for Inter. Inter with ten men from this point forward.

With any other side, you would have expected to see a reduction in offensive plays and definitely more defense work but Inter kept on attacking and playing as if they had 11 men on the pitch. And ten minutes later, using Nilmar’s break neck speed, Inter found the go ahead goal.

Nilmar went deep into the penalty area and was taken down by defender Leandro Desábato. The ensuing penalty kick was taken by Alex who had a slight pause on his shot faking the keeper and was able to jam in the goal that gave them the lead. 1-0 to Inter.

But only three minutes later, with Estudiantes still reeling from the goal they had just given up, Andrés D’Alessandro had a free kick rebound off the post on Mariano Andújar’s left post. This could possibly have been Estudiantes’ wake up call because it was only then that they actually reacted.

Creating quite a few chances to score near Inter’s penalty area, Estudiantes played with quite a bit of passion until the end of the first half but they were met with a solid Inter defense. Estudiantes also had to be sure they kept their eyes on Alex and D’Alessandro who could complicate with the ball and just inches of space.

In the second half, Juan Sebastián Verón had his hand on the trottle of the Pincharata offense (as usual) where he had two opportunities from long range to bring his side level. Inter, meanwhile, played the counter with perfection using the ex-Lyon man’s speed up front to keep Estudiantes vigilant.

Verón was the undisputed archstone of Estudiantes’ attack. But given that, Inter were still able to keep him and his cronies from getting a good look at Lauro’s goal. Also, Estudiantes used the long lobbing cross to the point of exhaustion where Indio and Arévalo were easily able to clear.

And at this time, Inter sought refuge on defense, looking only to clear the long Estudiantes crosses from their box, something they were able to do with great efficiency. Keep in mind they still had only ten men on the pitch. But with this, Estudiantes left themselves uncovered at the back where they suffered every time D’Alessandro got the ball.

Final Score: 1-0 to Inter. One hand on the cup.

I had this one going (I guess I could’ve made this up and you wouldn’t know, but in all honesty…) 2-1 to Inter. Not bad. The difference between the two sides would not have been more than one goal since Estudiantes do have a pretty solid side but not like what Inter has been able to put together.

This one finishes off in Porto Alegre next week with Inter as the favorites going into that one. And Estudiantes face a huge uphill battle — something they should be used to at this point.

Feel free to check the CONMEBOL website for results and information about upcoming matches and for those of you in need of a bracket to get your heads around the competition, get an updated one here.