Eight points off the title pace and on the back of a 3-1 defeat to Udinese, Inter yearned for an opening from the very first minute and took the first clear-cut opportunity arriving their way via Edin Džeko, only for the Bosnian strike to be flagged for offside. Starting the game one point and place ahead of the hosts sure did provide a psychological boost to Roma, who slowly got things running in their favour in terms of possession and key passes as the half went on.
However, it was the home outfit who looked the most dangerous, as Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Nicolo Barella charged the Nerazzurri midfield, with the latter turning provider for the match opener. A brilliant pass by the Italian ace found Federico Dimarco loitering the box, which the defender calmly slotted past Rui Patrício into the bottom left corner despite the shot-stopper getting a hand to it. Roma responded well and equalised via Inter-reject Paulo Dybala, who banged an unstoppable left-footed volley past Samir Handanović following Leonardo Spinazzola’s cross.
Inter probed for a second goal after the restart, but faced a resurgent Roma outfit inspired to break a 11-game winless H2H streak. A set-piece on the hour mark warranted Çalhanoğlu with a clear-cut opportunity, as he crashed his shot against the crossbar, much to the relief of the visitors. With the San Siro touchline robbed of José Mourinho’s charisma and antics due to a suspension, the away side managed to motivate themselves in his absence and finally found headway a quarter-hour before FT. Smalling rose out of nowhere to meet Lorenzo Pellegrini’s pinpoint free-kick, heading the ball perfectly past a helpless Handanović to put his side in the driving seat.
A host of substitutions by Simone Inzaghi in the final minutes hardly made a difference as Roma take all three points to the capital, entering the top-four momentarily. Inter will be utterly disappointed with the final result, with the Curva Nord ultras having made it clear before the match of how important a victory is going forward.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Chris Smalling (AS Roma)