Torino delays Inter Scudetto party

Torino has put the Scudetto celebration of Inter Milan on hold as the leaders fumbled, failing to hold on to a two-goal lead.

Inter were cruising to a comfortable win, only to have to wait a little longer for the Scudetto party after the game ended 2-2.

The Nerazzurri head into the game on the back of a spectacular week that sees them 12 points clear at the top of the Serie A table.

They had also fought back from 2-0 down to beat Como 3-2, setting up a Coppa Italia Final against Lazio on May 13.

As part of the protest by Torino fans, they left the Curva Maratona empty, as the ultras were on strike and marched towards the stadium, but stayed outside, in protest at the club and President Urbano Cairo.

Inter got the first chance as Manuel Akanji nodded wide of the back post after a short corner.

Torino’s chance came through  Saul Coco, who ballooned over from the edge of the box following a Carlos Augusto error playing out from the back.

Inter eventually broke the deadlock through Marcus Thuram, whose header at the far post from close range went in.

A record of 17th assist of the Serie A season was set by Federico Dimarco, although Opta records only 16 due to a deflection. 

The defender floated a cross from the left, beating the tally of 16 assists achieved by Papu Gomez for Atalanta in 2019-20.

Inter searched for the second as Piotr Zielinski volleyed just wide from the edge of the area after an Inter corner.

Inter had a huge double chance at the dawn of the second half but failed to convert.

Alberto Paleari was called into action with a big save on Dimarco’s shot at the near post, then Enzo Ebosse, with a sliding tackle, prevented Matteo Darmian from turning the rebound into an empty net from seven yards.

Ismajli stopped Inter from getting the second during a counter-attack, but they eventually made it two on the resulting corner with a Yann Bisseck header off the inside of the far post. 

This time around, the assist from Dimarco was recorded by  Opta, and the Lega Serie A recorded that he is now the outright record-holder.

Ismajli prevented Inter from getting the third with another desperate tackle to stop Francesco Pio Esposito from scoring a clear goal from a central pass.

Torino then began their comeback in real style. A back-heel flick for Emirhan Ilkhan provided a thorough ball for Giovanni, who ran onto the return pass and dinked a delightful finish over the on-rushing Yann Sommer.

This fired up Torino as  Alieu Njie’s strike forced a very tough save out of Sommer at the back post.

Duvat Zapata had a header hit Carlos Augusto’s hand from point-blank range, which was considered to be worthy of a penalty following the VAR review.  Nikola Vlasic then restored parity, completing the comeback by converting the spotkick into the top corner.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal was chalked off after combining with the clearly offside Thuram.

The game remained wide open, leading to the end-to-end stuff as both sides went for victory.

Zielinski drilled his effort wide, then Denzel Dumfries made a decisive interception to stop the Duvan Zapata tap-in.

This reduced the gap at the summit of the table to 10 points, with only four games left to play.