Inzaghi: My decision for Dimarco to take penalty

Simone Inzaghi revealed it was his decision for Federico Dimarco to take a penalty after the full-back’s late missed spot-kick prevented Inter from beating Atalanta in a thriller.

The champions were held to a 2-2 Serie A draw following high drama late on at San Siro on Saturday.

Lautaro Martinez put them in front and Edin Dzeko equalised 19 minutes from time after first-half goals from Ruslan Malinovskyi and Rafael Toloi put Atalanta in front.

Substitute Dimarco struck the crossbar from 12 yards out late on after Merih Demiral had been penalised for handball.

There was more drama when Roberto Piccoli found the back of the net at the other end, but the goal was ruled out as the ball had gone out for a corner in the build-up.

Dimarco had never taken a penalty in Serie A before, but Inzaghi revealed he had put his faith in the 23-year-old to step up.

The Inter boss told DAZN: “The decision was mine, our penalty takers are Lautaro and [Hakan] Calhanoglu, who were not on the pitch. I had Dimarco and [Ivan] Perisic, Federico seemed fresher and this morning he had kicked well in training.

“He would have deserved the winning goal at San Siro because he made a great start to the season, but this is football.”

| DZEK0

GET. THE. BALL. @EdDzeko #ForzaInter  pic.twitter.com/weMwcdemkY

— Inter  (@Inter_en) September 25, 2021

A point for Inter ended their run of 18 consecutive home wins in Serie A and left them in third place, two points behind leaders and city rivals Milan, who won at Spezia.

But Inzaghi felt the Nerazzurri deserved to win a pulsating contest.

He said: “People without doubt were entertained, but we feel a bitter taste from this draw, as we feel that we could’ve had more.

“We fell apart a little after the missed penalty, but saw an excellent Inter in much of the first half and the second too against a very strong Atalanta.”