Inter trounce Livorno
turin — Inter Milan earned a 2-0 victory over Livorno thanks to a howler from visiting goalkeeper Francesco Bardi, who is on loan from the San Siro club, and a late Yuto Nagatomo strike in Serie A on Saturday.
Bardi patted a simple-looking Jonathan cross into his own net after half-an-hour before Nagatomo sealed the points in added time for Walter Mazzari’s Inter, who welcomed back 40-year-old Javier Zanetti after seven months out injured.
Inter move on to 25 points but stay fourth six points adrift of unbeaten leaders AS Roma, and three behind Napoli and Juventus. Livorno remain 14th on 12 points.
The Inter fans paid tribute to club president Massimo Moratti, who recently sold a controlling stake to Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir, but saved the loudest cheer of the night for Zanetti who came on with eight minutes left.
“It’s really emotional. Making a comeback at 40-years-old isn’t easy,” said Zanetti, who has been sidelined since April with an Achilles tendon injury.
“I’ve said since the day of my operation I wanted at least one more game in front of my fans. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Inter took the lead with a comical own goal. There seemed no danger when Jonathan whipped in a low cross that looked too close to Bardi to cause any problems but as the keeper stretched down to collect the ball he knocked it backwards into the net. —