Just as the Inter players were leisurely warming up for 15 minutes.
Their bodies gradually warmed up, preparing to launch the first wave of strong offensive—Sassuolo suddenly started a fierce counterattack!
"Guys, take them down for me!"
Sassuolo’s head coach Di Francesco suddenly roared, scaring Mancini ten meters away into taking a step back!
Looking again at Di Francesco, Mancini found that the collar of his neatly washed shirt was torn open!
The tattered shirt collar swayed in the wind~
Mancini didn’t know what madness this guy was up to.
But when he turned his head back to the pitch, the scene in front of him shocked him!
Sassuolo players surged out of the backfield like a pack of wolves!
Each of them, like assault soldiers hearing the bugle call on the battlefield, screaming wildly as they charged at Inter’s players.
The first to suffer was the attacking midfielder Kovacic, about to receive the ball.
Kovacic, accustomed to the leisurely pace of the first ten minutes of the game, was completely unprepared and was about to step on the ball Tang Long passed to him with the sole of his foot.
However, what he didn’t expect was a whirlwind suddenly arose behind him!
Two Sassuolo players suddenly closed in from the left and right sides, sandwiching him in the center.
Under tremendous pressure, the young Kovacic felt his ribs on both sides sharply compress towards his heart, and as the ribs bounced back, a massive wave of pain and impact made him roll directly on the ground.
"Ah, what’s happening on the field?"
"Kovacic’s ball was intercepted!"
"Sassuolo’s number 7 มิซิโรลิ and number 4 Mania suddenly initiated the play and snatched the ball from Kovacic’s back!"
"Inter players seem a bit panicked, they’re signaling that it’s a foul, but the referee holds both arms out flat to signal the game to continue, it’s a fair play!"
"They’ve sped up, Sassuolo suddenly sped up!"
"The right-back Vrsalik is sprinting fiercely, Bellardini is swapping places with Zaza, Sansono is making a direct advance on the left!"
"Oh my goodness, too fast, the pace is unbelievably fast!"
"The ball has reached the heart of Inter’s penalty area, Bellardini is making a diagonal run, Santon needs to keep up with him, but he’s slow!"
Bellardini accelerated like a cheetah, swiftly creating an open space.
When Misiroli’s straight pass reached the inside of the box, Bellardini had already set up a one-on-one duel with Ranocchia.
Ranocchia, being both a captain and a central defender, defended steadily without panic.
He blocked Bellardini’s shooting path to the inside, steadily moving to force him outwards.
Faced with the tall Ranocchia, Bellardini executed a Matthews’ move, gently rolling the ball with the right foot towards the center, slightly shifting Ranocchia’s balance.
Then he flicked the ball in the opposite direction with the outside of his foot, shifting his weight to the same side!
He swung his foot and shot!
Ranocchia reacted quickly, immediately extending his left foot to block, trying his best to intercept the ball’s path.
But the ball went right between his legs.
Sometimes, feet only seem too short when needed, because his stance was too wide~
This type of ball sent through the legs, is the most deadly.
Goalkeeper Handanovic was obstructed, only feeling a flash of white light flying towards him, he instinctively dived to the far corner, but was still a beat slow...
"Sassuolo has actually scored first!"
"The score on the field turns to 1:0 first, Sassuolo is leading, unbelievable!"
Bellardini, who scored, trembled with an eerie intensity as if struck by lightning.
He frantically tore at his jersey as if he wanted to shred the green armor to pieces.
All Sassuolo players on the field, even including their goalkeeper Consigli, the starting eleven quickly gathered together, embracing each other in a circle.
As if before the match, they were circling those 5 million euros worth of golden-yellow cash in the locker room, singing and dancing~
"Well done, brothers!"
"Haha, we totally disrupted them, caught them completely off guard!"
"Push harder and take down Inter, each one could get tens of thousands!"
Sassuolo’s central defender captain Paulo Cannavaro excitedly waved his fist among the crowd.
Meanwhile, the camera showed Sassuolo’s chairman Rossi in the stands.
The old man was also jubilant, dancing around, even grabbing his cane to wave a few times in the air.
Mancini was a bit bewildered.
For the first few minutes, you all seemed listless, barely running, just staying back, and now suddenly surging like a flood?
Could it be that Sassuolo really wants to beat us?
Is Di Francesco out of his mind?
Doesn’t he remember the two games lost to us 7:0, what’s the point of fighting so hard?
In Mancini’s view, Sassuolo had no need to battle Inter Milan intensely on home ground.
According to Mancini’s experience in Serie A, when two teams have a significant disparity in strength, the weaker side would strategically concede before the match, not going all out.
Especially for a mid-lower-tier team like Sassuolo struggling to avoid relegation throughout the season, without much stability.
A mature head coach should understand Tian Ji’s horse racing principle, focusing the team’s energy more on dealing with relegation rivals.
Rather than going head-to-head with Serie A giants like Inter, Juventus, AC Milan.
Especially before this match, Mancini specifically studied Sassuolo’s schedule.
After this match, Sassuolo’s next opponents are Genoa and Cagliari, both major competitors for Sassuolo in the relegation zone.