Unless you’re someone who paid for early access, FIFA 22 comes out in a week. Until then, we got an early preview of the game on Saturday when Inter Milan and Atalanta scored some ridiculous goals you normally only see in video games.
Inter and Atalanta played a thrilling 2-2 draw on Saturday, with both teams thinking they’d won it late only for circumstances to rule otherwise. The draw was probably fair and allows us to focus on the first two goals of the match, which looked straight out of a video game.
Lautaro Martínez scored the type of flying volley you see in FIFA all the time but never see in real life because it’s just so damn hard to pull off. Then Ruslan Malinovskyi perfected his timed finishing skill by unleashing a 20-yard bullet.
Lautaro Martínez Goal vs Atalanta
It only took Lautaro Martinez 5 minutes to open the scoring pic.twitter.com/BXWsOdCnIA
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 25, 2021
Absolutely stunning. Give that man 99 in volleys. (He has 88 in FIFA 22.)
Ruslan Malinovskyi Goal vs Inter Milan
WHAT A STRIKE FROM RUSLAN MALINOVSKYI pic.twitter.com/rAp8BKRvNz
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 25, 2021
Boom. Give that man 99 in long shots. (He has 87 in FIFA 22.)
Though the final two goals of the day didn’t quite match the quality of the first two, the game was an absolute thriller.
Rafael Tolói gave La Dea a halftime lead with the type of goal you actually rarely see in FIFA. Samir Handanović parried another rocket from Malinovskyi but didn’t get enough on it, allowing Tolói to smash home the rebound.
Edin Džeko equalized in the 71st minute with a tap-in of another rebound. It wasn’t as spectacular as his cheeky finish last week, but it counted the same.
Right place, right time
Edin Dzeko levels things for Inter ⚫ pic.twitter.com/66bDlhEw4x— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 25, 2021
Things really got wild after that.
Federico Dimarco had a chance to put Inter back into the lead with a penalty in the 86th minute. While his effort was better than Bruno Fernandes’ penalty earlier in the day, he failed to keep his shot down, striking the crossbar.
Moments later, Atalanta thought it had retaken the lead, only for Roberto Piccoli’s potential winner to be ruled out by the VAR.
Roberto Piccoli thought he had scored the winner for Atalanta in the 88th minute...but VAR pic.twitter.com/6Wwj3Uj7kP
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 25, 2021
EA Sports loves to say “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” But maybe it’s for the best that we don’t have VAR reviews in FIFA.
The match finished 2-2, meaning AC Milan will end the day atop the Serie A table, two points ahead of its city rival thanks to a goal from Daniel Maldini of the famed Maldini family.
Inter Milan vs Atalanta Full-Match Highlights
Another aspect of the match that was video-game level was Inter Milan’s jersey game. Outside of maybe Venezia, no club has a better trio of kits than the Nerazzurri. On Saturday, Inter wore the awesome-looking home kit with two shades of blue. The club also has a cool away kit with snakes and a third kit that’s perfect for laser tag.