Crazy Ball – Another friendly match that was almost colored by a fight scene. Inter came from two goals down to draw against Olympique Lyon with two Nerazzurri goals coming from Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella.
Until a few minutes after the second half started, Lyon were still two goals ahead through former Arsenal players Alexandre Lacazette and Rayan Cherki. But in the 52nd minute, Lukaku narrowed the score to 1-2 and then Barella equalized in the 65th minute.
The test match at a neutral stadium at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Cesena, Italy was finally finished on Sunday morning (31/7) with the final score 2-2.
The situation of the match in the two halves took place in contrast. The first half dominated the ball in a draw, although Lyon had more attempted goals (10) than Inter (6), with two being scored in the 31st and 50th minutes.
Over the next 45 minutes Peter Bosz’s boys increased their tempo and possession to 58%, with Simone Inzaghi’s men looking to let the French side dominate and steal chances from a number of counter-attacks. Inter’s seven goal attempts during the second half, compared to eight for Lyon. But there were five strikes on target against Anthony Lopez, with two being goals.
The match was almost marred by a fight scene during the first half when Karl Toko Ekambi was felled by Marcelo Brozovic in the 32nd minute, prompting the whole team to shove each other. The referee waved a yellow card to Ekambi for what was involved as diving. Brozovic himself was shown a yellow card a few minutes later for an unsportsmanlike behavior.
With Serie A starting on 15 August 2022, Inter still have one more test match against Villarreal on 7 August.
