Inter stretch lead at Serie A summit after battling past Roma in six-goal thriller
Torrential rain in Rome increased the likelihood of a busy evening’s work for Marco Guida, and that was the case early on when Inter edged in front.
Federico Dimarco swung in a pacey corner, and a slippery touch off Romelu Lukaku’s head saw the ball fall perfectly for Francesco Acerbi to loop a header over Rui Patrício and into the net.
A VAR monitor check ensued, with Marcus Thuram being in an offside position and potentially interfering with play – but the man in the middle awarded the goal, giving Acerbi a first SA away strike since April 2022.
Undeterred, and like a team starting this round just one point behind the top four, Roma hit back within minutes. The wet conditions played a part as Roma won a free-kick on the right flank about 30 yards from goal.
Aiming to play a part in the second match goal in a fourth straight league game, Lorenzo Pellegrini whipped in the dead ball and Gianluca Mancini’s timely run allowed him to place an unstoppable header under Yann Sommer’s dive.
And Roma completed the turnaround in the 45th minute, with Pellegrini getting his second assist of the game after a defence-splitting run enabled him to find Stephan El Shaarawy in space.
The winger hit an effort on the charge high at Sommer’s near post, and there was more than an element of fortune involved, with the ball cannoning off the woodwork and hitting the opposite post on its way in.
The turnaround was a stunning development, but hell hath no fury like an Inter team playing on the back of six straight wins, and by the hour mark, they were 3-2 up after Thuram went into overdrive.
First, a series of passes ended up with Matteo Darmian on the right flank where he put a well-timed centre into the box for Thuram to tap in his ninth league goal of the campaign.
Shortly after the Frenchman apparently completed a brace as he met Dimarco’s ball from the left at the near post. In a flash, the ball was driven home, but Angeliño got the final touch for a crushing own-goal.
As expected, Inter’s route to victory was not without some speed bumps, with Sommer having to show bravery by thwarting Lukaku with a rush and a desperate dive at his feet in one particular incident, before Tommaso Baldanzi hit the side netting from a good chance and Leonardo Spinazzola’s effort had to be parried away.
But an injury-time strike from Alessandro Bastoni on the edge of the box via a quick counter saw Inter finally confirm a precious seven-point buffer from Juventus at the summit.
Roma, meanwhile, remain on their longest winless streak of home league H2Hs since 1940 – their attention now turns to midweek UEFA Europa League action against Feyenoord.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Thuram (Inter Milan)
