Roma vs Inter 2-4: Nerazzurri Triumph with Second Half Comeback

Inter overcame another hurdle on the way to the Scudetto as they inflicted Daniele De Rossi his first loss since he took the reigns of Roma. The Nerazzurri were down 1-2 at the Stadio Olimpico at half time but turned things upside down in the space of five minutes with two goals propitiated by Marcus Thuram. Defender Alessandro Bastoni set the score at 4-2 for Simone Inzaghi’s side during injury time.

It was a clear statement by Inzaghi’s boys in what was perhaps their last “difficult” away game of the season, save for the Derby. De Rossi, on the other hand, can be moderately happy at the approach his side showed. Roma managed to catch the Serie A capolista by surprise with their high press, and Inter took the lead almost by chance before seeing the Giallorossi score twice before the break.   

The Roma gaffer deployed his side with newcomers Dean Huijsen and Angelino at the back plus Inter “betrayer” Romelu Lukaku upfront alongside Paulo Dybala and Stephan El Shaarawy. Simone Inzaghi lined up the same starting XI that tore Juventus down one week ago.

Roma found themselves one goal down despite an overly aggressive start, heralded by an El Shaarawy shot that called Yann Sommer to action after just one minute. Inter opened the scoring in bizarre fashion as center back Francesco Acerbi headed the ball home from a failed Lukaku corner kick clearance on 17 minutes.

Big Rom headed the ball away from Federico Dimarco’s corner but his effort only made the ball bounce on Acerbi’s head as the Inter defender was left unmarked at the far post. The goal was confirmed by the VAR despite Thuram being offside as the Frenchman’s position was judged irrelevant.  

The Giallorossi did not lost their focus and came to an equalizer ten minutes later, courtesy of a Gianluca Mancini perfect finish from a Lorenzo Pellegrini set piece. Then, right before the half time break, De Rossi’s men completed their comeback with a textbook fast break powered again by Pellegrini and finalized by El Shaarawy. Roma’s Faraone fired the ball at Sommer from his captain’s service and was helped by luck as it bounced into the back of the net after hitting both posts. 

Roma seemed on the right track to extend their perfect record since De Rossi was put in charge, but Inter soon cared to remind them why they are the top candidate to win the title this term. In just five minutes early into the second half, the Nerazzurri hit twice to turn things around.   

Thuram played a key role in both occasions as he first anticipated Mancini to slot the ball past Rui Patricio from a Matteo Darmian cross in the middle of the box. Then, a few minutes later and from the opposite side this time, he forced Angelino into pushing the ball into his own net as the Argentine scrambled to prevent him from converting Dimarco’s cross. 

With Inter now in fire, Benjamin Pavard went close to scoring the fourth with a screamer from outside the box that crashed into the post. It was just a matter of time though before the visitors would make it to the scorecard again. But, before that, Roma had a golden chance to draw level with Lukaku, who was brilliantly picked by Pellegrini with a clinical filtering pass. However, the Belgian failed to punish his former club as he was blocked by Sommer.

Inter’s final goal of the night came during stoppage time, with Roma desperately pushing for an equalizer and consequently finding themselves unbalanced. The Nerazzurri showed no mercy and hit them on the counter as Bastoni made the best out of a Marko Arnautovic pass, taking his side one step closer to the Scudetto.    

 

MATCH SCORECARD

February 10, 2024 – Serie A 2023/24 Round 24
ROMA – INTER 2-4

SCORERS: 17′ Acerbi (I), 28′ Mancini (R), 44′ El Shaarawy (R), 49′ Thuram (I), 56′ Angelino (R, o.g.), 93′ Bastoni (I)