Favilli is booked for catching De Vrij with a trailing arm.
87'
Sensi sets his sights for a shot from outside the area - but he lashes his attempt well wide.
85'
Lukaku holds it up and shifts it to the right for Lazaro - but a wonderful recovery slide tackle from Criscito - the Genoa captain - wins his side an unlikely goal-kick.
80'
The final whistle can’t come soon enough for Genoa, who will very much be looking forward to some time off in order to regroup after another poor defeat.
78'
F. Dimarco enters the game and replaces C. Biraghi.
Dimarco is in for Biraghi as Inter continue to give their young substitutes minutes on the pitch.
75'
V. Lazaro enters the game and replaces A. Candreva.
D. Cleonise enters the game and replaces A. Sanabria.
Lazaro replaces Candreva as Conte gives another player an early rest.
Cleonise is in for Genoa, as the ineffective Sanabria is recalled to the bench.
71'
S. Sensi enters the game and replaces R. Gagliardini.
A. Favilli enters the game and replaces A. Pinamonti.
R. Lukaku has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by A. Candreva.
LUKAKU GETS A SECOND! INTER’S FOURTH! Candreva finds Lukaku just inside the penalty area, and the striker shifts it onto his left foot, before smashing a thunderbolt into the far corner! Radu had no chance at full-stretch!
Candreva gave Lukaku the pass which allowed for the strike. It's Candreva's second time assisting Lukaku today.
Pinamonti is replaced by Favilli as Genoa make a change in desperation.
Gagliardini's afternoon is over, though he'll come out of the game with a goal to his name. Sensi will play out the final 20 minutes.
68'
Up by three with 20 minutes remaining - the rest of the match will be nothing more than a training exercise for Inter, who look extremely confident in their lead. They’ve done the hard work already, and just have to see out the remaining time.
66'
A poor giveaway in defence allows Criscito to hammer a strike at goal, though Handanovic makes the comfortable save.
Minute
Description
64'
Penalty goal scored by S. Esposito for Inter Milan!
CONFIDENCE FROM ESPOSITO WHO, WHO MAKES IT 3-0! Lukaku allows the 17-year old striker the opportunity to score his first goal for Inter, which he does with absolute glee. He dispatches the spot-kick into the bottom-left corner, though Radu guessed correctly.
63'
K. Agudelo gets yellow.
PENALTY TO INTER! Agudelo gets the wrong side of Gagliardini and brings him down clumsily! The Genoa player will have no complaints as he’s shown a yellow card and gives Inter a chance to go up by three.
62'
N. Rovella enters the game and replaces F. Jagiełło.
Rovella replaces Jagiello in Genoa’s first change.
60'
Sanabria brings it forward and quickly shifts to his right - looking for Pinamonti. Bastoni steps in and wins the ball back - but takes the elbow of the forward to his face. Inter win a free-kick just outside their 18-yard box.
58'
Sanabria gets played through into the penalty area after a fantastic incisive pass from Agudelo. The striker inexplicably fails to get his shot off, encouraging Bastoni to play tighter to him as the opportunity comes and goes without trouble.
53'
The free-kick fails to trouble anyone as it flies harmlessly wide.
52'
Biraschi is brought down by Bastoni - who needs to be careful as he’s already on a booking. Genoa have a free-kick in a central area.
50'
Genoa finally get the ball upfield down the right via Ghighlione, but his cross fails to beat the first man - and the ball is put behind for a goal-kick after the riccochet is recollected by the full-back.
48'
Genoa are getting involved in a number of late, niggling, spiteful fouls on the Inter players in possession. It's going to be a tough game, if not tactically - than certainly physically.
46'
Genoa get the match restarted from the kick-off!
45'
HALF-TIME: INTER 2-0 GENOA.
43'
C. Romero gets yellow.
Romero is booked for holding Esposito back during a race for the loose ball.
41'
Cassata is caught in possession by Valero on the edge of the Inter 18 after lacking options around the area. The Inter midfield is working hard to come back and clog up space - leaving absolutely no room for Genoa to attack. With a 2-0 lead, that’s also a luxury that the Nerazzurri can afford.
38'
A meek cross goes into the Inter penalty area from the left, but Bastoni heads it away without any pressure, managing to place his clearance to a team-mate on the wing.
36'
A. Bastoni gets yellow.
Bastoni receives a card for fouling his man in an attempt to get back into position after being brought higher up the pitch for the majority of Inter’s time on the attack.
34'
F. Cassata gets yellow.
Cassata is booked for a frustrated foul in midfield.
32'
R. Gagliardini has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by R. Lukaku.
Lukaku contributes to two goals in an astoundingly short period of time as his layoff for Gagliardini adds an assist to his goal.
TWO GOALS IN TWO MINUTES! Genoa are collapsing! Lukaku backs into Romero and lays it off to Gagliardini after a long throw-in, and the midfielder absolutely smashes a first-time strike into the corner of the goal! Radu attempted to make the stop, but got taken into the goal with the shot!
31'
R. Lukaku has scored a goal for Inter Milan! Assist by A. Candreva.
Candreva's superb delivery provided Lukaku with the assist.
INTER GET THE BREAKTHROUGH 31 MINUTES IN! Candreva brings play to a stop on the right and stands over the ball, before scooping a cross into the penalty area for Lukaku, who gets across his man and heads it into the bottom corner! 1-0!
29'
Biraghi swings in a cross for Esposito, who pushes it through the defence for Lukaku. Radu is once again on the scene to make the save despite the oncoming striker - keeping the match level.
27'
Candreva cuts inside, beating Criscito with pace before hammering a shot towards goal with his left foot - though it continues to rise high above the goal.
25'
Inter look to be settling in as we approach the half-hour mark, with the hosts finally pinning their opponents around their 18. The deliveries of Candreva and Biraghi will be crucial, as we’ve already seen Inter look dangerous from a number of headers.
23'
The ensuing corner is swung in from the right, but headed out immediately by a defender. Candreva latches onto the loose ball and hammers a half-volley towards goal with real power. It could be troublesome, but Radu stoops down to catch it - making it two impressive stops in a row.
19'
Agudelo drives through the Inter midfield but falls down after running into Valero. He’s protesting for a free-kick, but it’s no more than clumsy from the playmaker.
17'
Genoa have their first corner and it’s played from the right towards the penalty spot, but Handanovic steps off his line early to make the confident claim.
15'
Genoa are committing bodies forward as they hold possession in Inter’s half. It’s their first real spell trying to break down the opposing defence.
11'
Biraghi swings a free-kick into the penalty area, but the flick-on at the edge of the 18 is met by Jagiello, who smashes it away.
8'
Esposito takes a lovely touch to take it down for himself, before firing a low shot at Radu, who puts it out for a corner.
7'
It’s been a slow start to the first half, with Inter dominating possession but playing it side to side looking for an opening. The hosts are tentative going forward but are assured in defence without question.
5'
Biraghi plays it down the channel for Valero, but doesn’t follow up the pass to provide an outlet. Good defending from Ghiglione sees it put out for a goal-kick, where Radu can restart play.
3'
The Inter attack is disrupted slightly due to the suspension of Martinez, who has been a mainstay in the forward line. His partnership with Lukaku has been one of the main reasons Inter find themselves in second, though a lack of other options has somewhat hamstrung Conte’s team sheets. Perhaps Esposito - making his Serie A debut today - can make a case to be a regular.
1'
Inter get the match underway from the kick-off!
Hello and welcome to our LIVE commentary of the Serie A fixture between Inter and Genoa!
After starting the season in impressive form, Inter have hit a little bit of a skid of late, dropping two points in each of their last two Serie A fixtures - a 0-0 with Roma and a 1-1 with Fiorentina. A Champions League defeat sandwiched in the middle saw Antonio Conte’s side drop out of Champions League and into the Europa, capping a difficult two weeks. All-in-all, a win against Genoa today would put Inter back joint-level with Juventus at the top of the Italian top-flight, after 17 matches.
Genoa’s form, in comparison, has been absolutely awful. The side currently managed by former Inter midfielder Thiago Motta has not won a match since a 3-1 victory over Brescia at the end of October. Four points away from salvation, having just lost to their city and survival rivals Sampdoria who sit in 17th isn’t exactly where the coach wants his side to be - and a fixture against one of Italy’s best squads isn’t likely to help.
GENOA XI (3-5-2): Ionut Radu; Domenico Criscito, Davide Biraschi, Cristian Romero; Kevin Agudelo, Ivan Radovanovic, Filip Jagiello, Francesco Cassata, Paolo Ghighlione; Andrea Pinamonti, Antonio Sanabria.
INTER SUBS: Valentino Lazaro, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Tommaso Berni, Daniele Padelli, Lucien Agoume, Federico Dimarco, Matteo Politano, Andrea Ranocchia, Stefano Sensi, Diego Godin.
INTER (3-5-2): Samir Handanovic; Milan Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij, Alessandro Bastoni; Antonio Candreva, Matias Vecino, Borja Valero, Roberto Gagliardini, Cristiano Biraghi; Romelu Lukaku, Sebastiano Esposito.
With 10 minutes to go before kick-off, let's take a look at the team news, starting with the hosts!
GENOA SUBS: Peter Ankersen, Stefano Sturaro, Denilho Cleonise, Nicolo Rovella, Edoardo Goldaniga, Jandrei, Maro Pajac, Jawad El Yamiq, Federico Marchetti, Lasse Schone, Andrea Favilli.
Thiago Motta will need quite the inspirational team-talk to encourage his side, as they’ve been thoroughly outplayed in the first half. The midfield is doing little to shield the defence, which was switched midway through the match to a back four. It appears at this stage as though Genoa may just stem the tide and try not to concede rather than continuing to expose their goalkeeper - a curious place to be in considering the visitors’ place in the table.
That concludes our commentary of the Serie A fixture between Inter and Genoa! We hope you enjoyed it!
Serie A takes a mid-season break following this round of fixtures, with both Inter and Genoa not in action again until January 2020. Inter travel to face Napoli on January 6, while Genoa host Sassuolo on the 5th.
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