INTER WINNING STREAK

The Gold RunThe Gold Run

The Gold Run Inter’s 17-match winning streak, which started when they were joint leaders with Palermo, not only allowed them to burst ahead of all their rivals in the Scudetto hunt, but it also set a Serie A and European record. James Sugrue follows the run week by week as it paved the way for their title success

WEEK 08 25/10/06 1

Inter started their run in style with a comprehensive win over Livorno. Things went the Nerazzurri’s way right from the start as the Amaranto’s Marc Pfertzel volleyed Alvaro Recoba’s cross into his own net after just two minutes. Marco Materazzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz made it four and allowed Inter to draw level with Palermo at the top of Serie A. Inter 4-1 Livorno Pfertzel og 2 Lucarelli 71 Materazzi 13 Ibrahimovic 72 (39,057) Cruz 79 Ref: Saccani Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel, Grosso; Figo, Vieira, Stankovic (Maaroufi 83), Solari; Recoba (Ibrahimovic 30), Cruz (Crespo 80) Livorno: Amelia; Grandoni, Kuffour, Knezevic; Pfertzel, Morrone, Filippini, Vidigal, Pasquale (Lucarelli 47); Vigiani (Cesar Prates 68); Danilevicius (Paulinho 82)

WEEK 10 05/11/06 3

Inter were full of confidence after victory in the Milan derby and returning to winning ways in the Champions League against Spartak Moscow. Captain Javier Zanetti set the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza alight with his first goal in four years, and the three points seemed inevitable when goalkeeper Julio Cesar saved Michele Fini’s penalty after a handball by Douglas Maicon. Inter 2-0 Ascoli Zanetti 41 Fini miss pen 65 Cudini og 53 (43,372) Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba, Samuel, Grosso (Figo 52); Zanetti, Vieira, Dacourt; Stankovic (Gonzalez 76); Ibrahimovic, Crespo (Solari 90) Ascoli: Pagliuca; Minieri, Cudini, Nastase, Lukovic (Perrulli 79); Giampàà (Gotti 52), P Zanetti, Galloppa, Fini; Skela (Paolucci 52); Bjelanovic Ref: Banti

WEEK 09 28/10/06

Milan had already been rocked by the rejection of their appeal against the Calciopoli verdicts and Inter were only too happy to deal them another blow with victory in the Derby della Madonnina. Hailed as one of the best Milan derbies of all time, the Beneamata held out for a memorable 4-3 win despite going down to 10 men and having to repel a late siege. Milan 3-4 Inter Seedorf 53 Crespo 17 Gilardino 79 Stankovic 22 Kaka 94 Ibrahimovic 50 (78, 891) Materazzi 72 Ref: Farina Materazzi s/o 73 Milan: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Maldini 49); Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini (Oliveira 49); Kaka, Seedorf; Inzaghi (Gilardino 49) Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Grosso (Burdisso 64); Zanetti, Vieira, Dacourt (Figo 64); Stankovic; Crespo, Ibrahimovic (Samuel 86)

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44 Calcio Italia June 2007

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WEEK 11 12/11/06

It took an injury time winner from Cruz for Inter to take their run of consecutive victories to four, as the Nerazzurri fans saw the best and worst of Ibrahimovic. The Swedish international stunned the Stadio Tardini with a wonderful goal, but late into injury time Ibra followed up the yellow card he had received for a scuffle with Crociati defender Ferdinand Coly with a second for kicking the ball away and sarcastically applauding referee Massimiliano Saccani. Parma 1-2 Inter Budan 27 Ibrahimovic 16 (20, 488) Cruz 92 Ref: Saccani Ibrahimovic s/o 96 Parma: Bucci (De Lucia 70); Coly, Contini, Paci, Bocchetti; Grella, Ciaramitaro; Pisanu (Gasbarroni 85), Morfeo, Muslimovic; Budan (Fernando Couto 80) Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba, Materazzi, Grosso (Gonzalez 91); Zanetti, Vieira, Dacourt; Figo (Solari 77); Ibrahimovic, Crespo (Cruz 66)
WEEK 12 19/11/06 5

Adriano returned from his sabbatical in Rio de Janeiro, but it was Hernan Crespo who guaranteed the Nerazzurri all three points in a shaky performance against surprise package Reggina. After Inter had taken an early lead, their Calabrian opponents poured forward and Walter Samuel had to clear off the line before Rolando Bianchi had a strike disallowed for offside. The Amaranto’s frustration was made obvious when Coach Walter Mazzarri was dismissed for dissent. Inter 1-0 Reggina Crespo 4 (43,772) Inter: Julio Cesar; Zanetti, Cordoba, Samuel, Burdisso; Solari (Maicon 55), Vieira, Stankovic; Figo (Dacourt 76); Crespo, Cruz (Adriano 53) Reggina: Pelizzoli; Lanzaro, Giosa, Aronica; Mesto, Amerini (Nielsen 87), Tognozzi (Carobbio 83), Modesto; Leon, Missiroli (Rios 63); Bianchi Ref: Rocchi

WEEK 14 02/12/06 7

Inter sealed their 11th consecutive win in all competitions against Siena, equalling a record that had stood for 70 years. Julio Cesar again made a crucial penalty save while defender Nicolas Burdisso was the surprise hero as he scored his first-ever Serie A goal. Crespo secured the win with a fine lob over Alex Manninger after leaving his marker for dead. Inter 2-0 Siena Burdisso 11 Frick miss pen 49 Crespo 54 (42,299) Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Materazzi, Burdisso, Grosso (Samuel 58); Zanetti, Vieira, Cambiasso; Stankovic (Maxwell 87); Ibrahimovic, Crespo (Figo 78) Siena: Manninger; Negro, Portanova, Gastaldello (Candela 67), Molinaro; Konko, Codrea, Brevi, Antonini; Locatelli (Chiesa 78); Frick (Bogdani 78) Ref: De Marco

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WEEK 13 26/11/06

Billed as the most important match of the season so far, this top-of-the-table clash between Inter and Palermo was broadcast live in 180 different countries and broke the record for gate receipts at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. The Nerazzurri bounced back from their disappointing performance against Reggina with goals from former Juventus duo Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira to take a four-point lead at the top. Palermo 1-2 Inter Amauri 46 Ibrahimovic 7 (34,095) Vieira 62 Palermo: Fontana; Zaccardo, Barzagli, Dellafi ore (Brienza 72), Cassani; Diana, Guana, Corini (Tedesco 89), Pisano; Bresciano; Amauri (Caracciolo 54) Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Cordoba (Samuel 67), Materazzi, Grosso; Zanetti, Vieira, Solari (Cambiasso 84); Stankovic; Ibrahimovic (Crespo 50), Adriano Ref: Rosetti

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WEEK 15 10/12/06

Coach Roberto Mancini wrote his name in the history books, as his Inter side equalled the club record of eight straight wins set by the legendary teams of Giovanni Trapattoni and Helenio Herrera. The Nerazzurri’s last defeat had come against Empoli at the Stadio Carlo Castellani, but they made no mistake this time around as they cruised to a comfortable victory despite the absence of several key players. Empoli 0-3 Inter Crespo 60 (11,473) Ibrahimovic 78 Ref: Ayroldi Samuel 87 Empoli: Balli; Raggi, Adani, Pratali (Pozzi 77), Lucchini (Tosto 46); Almiron (Gasparetto 65), Moro; Busce, Vannucchi, Marianini; Saudati Inter: Julio Cesar; Burdisso, Materazzi, Samuel, Grosso (Maxwell 49); Zanetti, Cambiasso, Solari (Recoba 58); Stankovic; Crespo (Adriano 63), Ibrahimovic

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WEEK 16 17/12/06

The Serpenti broke their club record with a ninth win in a row, thanks to a wonder goal from Materazzi. Inter had already beaten Messina in the Coppa Italia with a humiliating 5-0 aggregate scoreline and the tension showed when there was a scuffle on the touchline as Giallorossi Coach Bruno Giordano refused to give the ball back to Materazzi. Matrix had the last laugh though as the defender banged in a corner with a stunning bicycle-kick. Inter 2-0 Messina Materazzi 53 (41,683) Ibrahimovic 63 Ref: Stefanini Inter: Julio Cesar; Maicon, Materazzi, Samuel (Burdisso 14), Maxwell; Zanetti, Vieira (Stankovic 75), Cambiasso; Figo; Ibrahimovic, Recoba (Adriano 68) Messina: Storari; Zoro, Rea, Iuliano, Zanchi (Morello 50), Parisi; De Vezze (Provenzano 81), Ogasawara (Lavecchia 68), Cordova; Floccari, Di Napoli

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