The clash at the top of Serie A between AS Roma and Inter Milan ended on Saturday with a spectacular draw (2-2) which leaves the two teams co-leaders of the Italian Championship after five days, tied with Lazio winner in Venice. Roma, thanks to a double from French international Manu Koné, led 2-0 at the break. But the reigning champions’ serial scorer, Argentinian Lautaro Martinez, also scored twice, in a game where the score could have been even larger, as there were so many opportunities.
The two teams, who had won their first four matches, now have 13 points, just like Lazio, who won 2-0 in Venice. Como, which has 10 points, can become the fourth co-leader on Sunday in the event of a victory at Frosinone (7th, 7 pts).
Roma-Inter was the meeting between two monsters of Serie A, two invincibles whose confrontation occupied the front pages of the Italian sports press all week. In the league, Rome remained on nine consecutive victories, Inter on a series of 30 matches with only one defeat.
One would have thought that the minute’s tribute to Sandro Mazzola, the legendary Inter striker of the 1960s whose death was announced on Saturday, would inspire his successors. The opposite happened.
Roma entered the match like a cannonball, and French international Manu Koné scored in the 6th minute: a recovery from the penalty spot with a subtle back pass from the head of Argentinian 2022 Nahuel Molina.
Lautaro-Thuram, infernal duo
Cristian Chivu’s men needed a good 25 minutes to get their heads above water and finally create four big chances, including a shot on the post, between the 26th and 33rd minutes. It was exactly in this strong moment for the Interists that Manu Koné struck a second time, with a volley within six meters. The linesman raised his flag, but after a long check, the VAR found that Koné was indeed in a legal position (2-0, 37th).
At 2-0, however, Inter had good reasons to remain confident. Marcus Thuram and his teammates had trailed by this score in the last two league matches, against Naples and Udinese. And each time they ended up winning (3-2 and 5-3).
The Nerazzurri (who played in white) entered the second half as Roma entered the first. Head down. After 50 seconds, the infernal duo struck: Lautaro Martinez victoriously took a cross from Thuram (2-1, 46th). The intensity increased again and both teams had opportunities to score, often coming up against the class of goalkeepers, Josep Martinez at Inter, Mile Svilar at Rome.
After a thigh cushion and a tense volley, Lautaro finally equalized (2-2, 79th), a few seconds after another huge opportunity from Marcus Thuram, giving the match a result rather consistent with logic.
Saturday afternoon, Cagliari won at Udinese (1-0) to stick to the leading group, with 12 points.
