Disappointed we lost but delighted we still progress to the quarter finals of EL. But we really made hard work of it, as always. Was disappointed with our performance but not really surprised. This was always going to be a difficult game despite leading 3-0. Inter were not going to just let us progress easily. After getting humiliated in the first leg, they were under pressure to restore some pride. And they were always going to come at us from the start to get a few goals which they did. Our defence had been conceding easy goals all season and so not surprised we conceded a few goals here. Fortunately, we managed to get that all-important away goal to overcome Inter and progress.
This match again proves how much we need Bale. Whenever Bale is not playing or is tightly marked, our attack are always toothless. We just don't have a proper cover for him. But Dembele atleast shows he can be a match winner for us if he steps up his game. Dembele saved us against Lyon in the second leg and he has become our saviour again. It was a brilliant run and shot by Dembele which forced a good save from the Inter goalie and enabled Adebayor to tap into goal. Adebayor did well to score that but he was one of the main reason why we struggled in this match. Adebayor should have done better with the one-on-one chance in the first half. I think if Adebayor had scored that, it would have boosted our confidence and demoralised Inter. It is really annoying why Adebayor always wastes those one-on-one chance with the goalie. It was a bit risky to play both Adebayor and Defoe in attack but can understand why AVB did that. Was hoping atleast Defoe could trouble Inter but he was never in the game.
I think AVB did a mistake by playing Livermore in midfield with Parker. We should have partnered either Dembele with Parker or someone more experienced like Holtby or Hudd. Inexperienced and error-prone player like Livermore were not going to stand up against more experienced Inter midfield. This enabled Inter to dominate the midfield and put pressure on our defence. We played much better when Holtby and Lennon came on and could have score more than the 1 goal with more luck. Ofcourse, Inter almost won the tie in normal time but fortunately they wasted the one-on-one chance in the last minute.
Really disappointed with our defending in this match. With the experience of Vertonghen and Gallas, we should have done better but instead we looked shaky. Friedel too should have done better with atleast 2 of their goals. He didn't seem or organize the defence well. Was really annoyed with the way Friedel only asked 3 players to defend the freekick for their third goal. It was clear, 4 players would have defended the freekick much better. And it was not surprising that the ball deflected by the 3-man defence onto Gallas and goal. I think Lloris would have organized the defence better. Wish AVB will play Lloris in the quarter finals.
Despite the disappointing performance and score, you have to be delighted to progress to the quarter finals of the EL. Just wish we will play much better in the quarter finals, regardless of which team we will be facing. One disappointing thing is, we have now lost 2 matches in a row, after losing to Liverpool in the league. Hope we will get back to winning ways against Fulham.
