AS Roma vs Inter Review
Inter Milan climbed back to second place in the standings following a 1-0 victory against mid-table AS Roma, who failed to score in 25 consecutive league matches at the Stadio Olimpico. Inter controlled possession from the start and recorded the first shot on target when Lautaro Martínez set up Marcus Thuram, whose effort tested Mile Svilar. On the other side, Yann Sommer felt relieved after a Lorenzo Pellegrini shot from the byline deflected off his left post. Additionally, Simone Inzaghi had to make a substitution when Hakan Çalhanoğlu was replaced by Davide Frattesi due to a muscle injury.
Despite the change, the game’s tempo remained high as Henrikh Mkhitaryan struck a volley that hit the crossbar. The visitors’ injury woes worsened when Stefan de Vrij came on for Francesco Acerbi, who appeared to be dealing with a hamstring problem, in the 27th minute. As the first half came to an end, Sommer saved Pellegrini’s powerful shot, leaving both Inzaghi and his counterpart Ivan Jurić feeling that the three points were within reach.
However, the Giallorossi had difficulty generating enough dangerous chances, and when they did, they often squandered them or lacked awareness in the final third. In contrast, Inter looked more dangerous and eventually took the lead in the 60th minute. Nicola Zalewski was caught off guard, and although Frattesi seemed to waste the counter-attack with an inaccurate pass after stealing the ball from Zalewski, Zeki Çelik’s heavy touch was capitalized on by Lautaro, who struck the ball brilliantly from just inside the box.
Çelik partially redeemed himself shortly after by sliding in to stop Federico Dimarco from scoring a second goal. However, when striker Artem Dovbyk missed a chance he should have converted, Roma appeared unlikely to challenge Sommer and could have faced a larger defeat, as Svilar made impressive saves against Denzel Dumfries and Thuram. Roma has now only secured one victory in their last 16 head-to-head matches (with 6 draws and 9 losses) and must regroup before their UEFA Europa League match against Dynamo Kyiv on Thursday. Meanwhile, Inter will play in Europe a day earlier, facing Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League.
