Roma came from behind twice to hold Inter to a 2-2 draw in a Sunday night thriller at the Stadio Olimpico.
Keita Balde’s volley was cancelled out by a Cengiz Under wonder-strike before Mauro Icardi restored Inter’s lead, only for the Nerazzurri to again be pegged back by an Aleksander Kolarov penalty in an entertaining encounter in the capital.
The result means Inter go level on 29 points with second-placed Napoli ahead of the Partenopei’s meeting with Atalanta on Monday, while Roma remain outside of the European places in seventh.
Samir Handanovic displayed tremendous reflexes with two saves from long-range efforts after 14 minutes, before Roma came agonisingly close to taking the lead. Patrik Schick burst into the box and found Alessandro Florenzi in space with a delightful back-heel, but the Roma captain’s finish cannoned back off the post.
Icardi threatened after half an hour as he beat the offside trap to go one-on-one with Robin Olsen, but the Swede blocked the striker’s first effort before his follow-up flew over the bar.
The home fans were up in arms when Nicolo Zaniolo appeared to be tripped just inside the box, but there was no VAR review and within moments Inter were in front. Former Lazio man Keita finished off a flowing team move by volleying in Danilo D’Ambrosio’s cross.
Roma came close once more before the break, but Inter again had Handanovic to thank as the Slovenian denied a Kolarov free-kick with a fingertip save.
Inter’s goalkeeper was eventually beaten in style as Roma drew level just five minutes after the restart when Under picked up the ball 25 yards from goal and smashed a missile of a shot into the corner.
The equilibrium lasted just quarter of an hour before Nerazzurri skipper Mauro Icardi rose to head in from a corner and restore his side’s lead.
But the drama wouldn’t end there as Roma again appealed strongly for a penalty, which this time was awarded to them following a VAR review after Marcelo Brozovic was judged to have handled in the area. Kolarov stepped up and expertly converted from 12 yards to level the scores once more.
Zaniolo proves a point
Roma’s 19-year-old midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo was the youngest player on the pitch on Sunday night, but played with an authority that suggested he had a point to prove against his former team.
The youngster arrived in the capital from San Siro in the summer for just €4.5m and already looks likely to pay off the fee after making a good impression during his first team outings so far.
But this was his best yet, a performance full of energy, guile and ambition and he was rightly rewarded with a warm reception from the home fans when he was substituted in the second half – something of a rarity in recent Roma home games.
Cometh the hour, cometh the Keita
Keita Balde didn’t enjoy a smooth introduction to life with Inter and spent much of his early Nerazzurri career either played out of position through the middle or being asked to influence a game as an impact substitute.
Within the space of week, however, the Senegal international has started to show glimpses of the form that made him such a sought-after asset for Lazio during the 2016/17 season.
Few players possess the pace and trickery of the Inter winger, but he is proving to have added composure to his game with a brace against Frosinone last weekend before his volleyed finish opened the scoring against Roma.
With Ivan Perisic’s form under more intense scrutiny with each passing week, the 23-year-old will soon be an automatic name in the starting line-up if he can consistently deliver this level of performance.
