20th October, 2019
Play was suspended briefly on Sunday when a parachutist landed on the pitch during the seven-goal Serie A thriller between Sassuolo and Inter Milan in northern Italy.
Broadcaster DAZN beaming the match live failed to show the incident, but the photographers did not miss it and the photo sooner went viral in the social media in Italy.
The AFP reported that the incident happened at Sassuolo’s Mapei Stadium two minutes before the break.
Romelu Lukaku was just about to take a penalty when the incident occurred with the Inter Milan striker going on to convert for a 3-1 lead for the visitors.
The parachutist was quickly evacuated by security agents at the stadium in Emilia-Romagna.
Braces from both former Manchester United striker Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez sealed a 4-3 win for Inter, who stay second in the Italian league one point behind leaders Juventus who beat Bologna 2-1 on Saturday.
Martinez had opened after two minutes, adding a penalty after 71 minute with Lukaku scoring a quick-fire double on 38 and 45 minutes.
Inter were leading comfortably 4-1 with 20 minutes to go, and with the game firmly under control Antonio Conte gave winger Matteo Politano and midfielder Valentino Lazaro their first starts this season.
But Filip Djuricic (74) and Jeremie Boga (81) hit back for the hosts late to add to Domenic Berardi’s first-half goal.
Inter held on for a win after two consecutive defeats against Barcelona in the Champions League and Juventus in Serie A.
“Once it goes to 3-1 and 4-1, it should be over,” said Lukaku.
“The positive we take is that we got the three points, but we need to defend better than that.
“It was very important to get this win.”
Sassuolo fell to their fifth loss of the season to sit 16th just above the relegation zone.
“For more than an hour we played very well, then there was a blackout that we will analyse in detail,” said Inter assistant coach Cristian Stellini speaking as Conte missed the post-match conference because of illness.
“We did well, but we still have a lot of work to do.”