Following a competitive half, Verona take a one-goal lead in at the break. After just two minutes, the hosts found themselves in front when Lazovic latched onto Dimarco’s searching pass before darting past Skriniar and burying the ball into the bottom-left corner. Juric’s side had chances to extend their lead, including a Valoso strike that cannoned off the post, while Inter were mostly restricted to long-range efforts in their search for an equaliser.
45′ + 3′ HALF TIME: HELLAS VERONA 1-0 INTER
45′ + 2′ Valero also picks up a yellow card for the incident with Amrabat.
S. Amrabat
Yellow Card
45′ + 2′ After an altercation following a tackle on Valero by Amrabat, the Moroccan midfielder is booked by the referee.
45′ There will be two added minutes at the end of the first half.
43′ INCHES AWAY! Lazovic drives down the left flank before passing the ball to Veloso. From the touchline, the midfielder sends a dangerous, low cross into the box which somehow evades Stepinski in the centre and Pessina, who was at full stretch at the far post.
41′ The pace of the game is being disrupted by a succession of cynical fouls. Brozovic this time brings down Pessina, leading to the referee giving the Yellow and Blues a free-kick just inside the Inter half.
39′ Valero found himself in acres of space and attempted to slide the ball down the right for Candreva, but the Italian just made his run a fraction too early and was flagged for offside.
K. Günter
Yellow Card
37′ Gunter is the latest player to go into the book after pulling Sanchez to the floor when the attacker looked to have skipped beyond him in launching a quick counter. He can have no complaints with that decision.
36′ Lukaku catches Kumbulla on the edge of Verona’s box and Irrati awards the hosts a free-kick.
35′ Inter are beginning to get a foothold in the game despite being behind on the scoresheet. Young receives the ball from Sanchez before finding Brozovic on the edge of the box. The Croation opts to take on a first-time shot, but sends it wide to the left of Silvestri’s goal.
34′ Godin is well placed to block Pessina’s cross in the centre of the box with Stepinski lurking at the far post.
33′ Lukaku drops deep to try and link-up play in an effort to force the issue, although Amrabat reads the Belgian’s headed pass to Valero and sends it out for a throw-in down the near side.
31′ JUST WIDE! The following corner is cleared initially by the home side before eventually falling to Brozovic. From the edge of the box, the Croatian fires just wide on his right foot. Silvestri was scrambling across his goal for that effort.
30′ TIPPED OVER! The resulting free-kick is taken by Sanchez, and he forces Silvestri to steer the ball over his bar for a corner in the centre of his goal.
F. Dimarco
Yellow Card
29′ Dimarco cynically brings down Sanchez on the edge of the host’s area following some positive link-up play with Lukaku. As a result, the wing-back picks up the first yellow card of the match.
28′ Inter have lost three of their last seven league games, as many losses as in their previous 35 Serie A matches.
26′ Faraoni concedes a corner to the left, but Sanchez’s in-swinging set-piece is easily headed away by Gunter.
24′ Sanchez is impeded by Gunter and the visitors win a free-kick in their own defensive third.
22′ OPENING! Veloso this time runs with the ball until spotting Lazovic to his left. After sending a pass out wide, the Serbian’s resulting whipped cross is nodded beyond the far post by Stepinski. The hosts are really starting to dictate proceedings here.
20′ ANOTHER CHANCE! Amrabat drives at the heart of the Inter defence before lofting a wonderful throughball over to the left for Dimarco. The wing-back opts to take it on first time from the centre of the box, and his volleyed effort marginally misses to the right of Handanovic’s goal.
19′ OFF THE POST! After their best spell of possession, Faraoni receives the ball down the right-hand side of the field before laying it off for Veloso. After skipping beyond two Inter players, the midfielder hits the post with a fierce left-footed drive. So close to extending their lead!
17′ Sanchez attempts to send Candreva away down the right, but the referee’s assistant has his flag up for offside against the winger.
16′ WIDE! Juric’s side manage to break out of their own half for the first time since their goal, and it results in Lazovic sliding through Stepinski. The attacker takes a touch to set himself before lashing a left-footed effort wide from a tight angle.
14′ BLOCK! The loose ball falls to Valero a few yards outside of Verona’s box, and the Spaniard tries his luck from range. Gunter reads the danger and puts his body on the line to block the effort.
13′ Lukaku shows good strength to protect the ball down the left side of the hosts’ penalty area. After cutting onto his right foot and crossing, Kumbulla calmly takes the delivery down before hooking it to safety.
12′ Candreva finds himself in acres of space down the right wing and drives at Dimarco. After getting to the byline, however, the Italian’s cross sails out for a goal-kick.
10′ The Nerazzurri are beginning to find their rhythm after Verona’s positive start. Valero once again drifts over to the left flank, but this time his lofted delivery is easily claimed by Silvestri.
8′ Inter are given a free-kick in a central area halfway inside Verona’s half following a foul on Sanchez by Amrabat. Conte’s team opt to work it short and over to the left-hand side of the field.
6′ CLOSE! After some patient work, Gagliardini creates space down the left to whip a cross into the hosts’ penalty area. Candreva rises well to meet the delivery in the centre of the box, but his flicked header just evades the far post.
4′ Candreva is caught down the right flank by Dimarco and the visitors are awarded a free-kick.
F. Dimarco
Assist
2′ The opening goal is extremely well worked from the Yellow and Blues with Dimarco playing an inch-perfect throughball over the top of the Inter defence for Lazovic to chase. The winger showed great pace to reach the lofted pass before finishing off the move.
D. Lazović
Goal
2′ GOAL! Verona take an early lead! The home side work the play neatly down the left-hand side of the field and Lazovic easily skips beyond Skriniar. After breaking into the box, the attacker keeps his cool and finds the bottom-left corner from an acute angle. 1-0.
1′ The home cheaply lose possession on the edge of their area to Valero, who slides a forward pass to Lukaku. The Belgian attempts to backheel the ball into Sanchez’s past, but the Chilean’s first touch lets him down and Kumbulla makes a much-needed interception.
1′ Kick off! The referee, Massimiliano Irrati, blows his whistle and Inter get us underway.
The teams are out, and kick-off will soon be upon us here at Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Verona’s last win in Serie A against Inter was in 1992. Since then they have lost 14 times and shared three draws against the Nerazzurri.
Since the resumption of Serie A, Verona have won two of their five matches. However, in that time, Ivan Juric’s side have failed to keep a single clean sheet, conceding a total of 10 goals. The hosts come into this fixture ninth in the table, with a win potentially taking them five points behind sixth-placed Napoli in the race for a European spot. Inter, on the other hand, can leapfrog Atalanta and move into third with a victory over Verona. Conte’s team have lost only one of their last five league games, but have gone down to ten men on three occasions during that run.
The Yellow and Blues make five changes for this clash following their defeat to Brescia. Gunter comes into the defence in place of Empereur, who drops to the bench, while Amrabat, Dimarco, Pessina and Stepinski also start ahead of Badu, Di Carmine, Mattia Zaccagni and the injured Fabio Borini. Antonio Conte, meanwhile, makes four alterations to his side. Godin, Skriniar, Valero and Sanchez return to the starting team, while Danilo D’Ambrosio, Alessandro Bastoni, Eriksen and Martinez all drop out.
INTER SUBS: Daniele Padelli, Tommaso Berni, Andrea Ranocchia, Lorenzo Pirola, Kwadwo Asamoah, Cristiano Biraghi, Lucien Agoume, Matias Vecino, Christian Eriksen, Lautaro Martinez, Sebastiano Esposito.
HELLAS VERONA SUBS: Alessandro Berardi, Boris Radunovic, Alan Empereur, Matteo Lovato, Claud Adjapong, Emmanuel Badu, Lucas, Valerio Verre, Samuel Di Carmine, Filippo Terracciano.
INTER (3-4-1-2): Samir Handanovic; Diego Godin, Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar; Antonio Candreva, Roberto Gagliardini, Marcelo Brozovic, Ashely Young; Borja Valero; Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez.
HELLAS VERONA (3-4-3): Marco Silvestri; Amir Rrahmani, Koray Gunter, Marash Kumbulla; Davide Faraoni, Sofyan Amrabat, Miguel Veloso, Federico Dimarco; Darko Lazovic, Matteo Pessina, Mariusz Stepinski.
The home side come into this game looking to bounce back after suffering a 2-0 defeat last time out against Brescia. Inter, meanwhile, will be also be seeking a return to winning ways following their 2-1 loss at home to Bologna in their previous league match.
Hello and welcome to live match coverage of the Serie A fixture between Hellas Verona and Inter at Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Borja Valero
Yellow Card