It seemed like it would be impossible. It seemed like AC Milan were about to claim the scudetto. Inter Milan, down 1-0 to a Cesena side still facing a relegation battle, with just five minutes of injury time remaining. But then Giampaolo Pazzini happened. Two goals in five minutes, and Inter had the 2-1 lead, forcing Milan to put the champagne back in the fridge, at least until next week.
Cesena Vs. Inter Milan: Giampaolo Pazzini Steals The Show To Give Inter Milan 2-1 Win In Injury Time
The match started off surprisingly even. The visitors were certainly able to put a fair amount of pressure on the Cesena defense, but the backline stood firm in front of Francesco Antonioli, even getting in a few shots of their own on the other end. It may not have been pretty (particularly when the camera zooms in on Lucio) but the Seahorses were likely thrilled to go into the break locked in a scoreless draw.
Imagine, then, their excitement when Inter allowed them to control the match for the first ten minutes, basically letting Cesena play around in the Inter box. Persistence, or perhaps shoddy defending, payed off in the 56th minute, when an unmarked Igor Budan got on the end of a Luca Ceccarelli cross, with Luca Castellazzi only able to get a finger on it as it flew into the back of the net. 1-0 Cesena, and they just needed to defend for the next 33 minutes.
Shortly after the goal, Giampaolo Pazzini was brought on for Goran Pandev, making it easy for writers everywhere who love to take notes using initials. The striker, however, wanted to make a greater impression than that, and while he looked rather ineffective at first -- almost like a player set to hand Milan the title -- in the end he showed everyone why this week’s added time should be called Zona Pazzini rather than Zona Mazzarri.
After two consecutive headers that went just wide of the far post, Pazzini thought he'd try something different, getting the bottom of his boot on the end of a Samuel Eto'o cross. The shot left Antonioli utterly defenseless as it sailed into the back of the net. 1-1, but the nerazzurri knew nothing less than a win could rescue their title dreams.
And so Pazzini stepped up to become the hero, sending in a header (finally) that bounced passed Antonioli and into the back of the net. The winning goal occurred in the fifth minute of injury time, leading many to wonder what exactly had occurred to force five minutes of added time, anyway? There were no serious injuries. There weren’t even many set pieces. Do the Italian refs just pull numbers out of a hat? Or was everyone just not ready to see the scudetto handed to Milan with four matches left to play?
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