Perisic scores to salvage a point for Inter against Roma

STADIO GIUSEPPE MEAZZA (Milan) – Inter and Roma drew 1-1 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday night in Serie A, in a crucial clash for a top four finish.

The Giallorossi went ahead early in the first half, with a Stephan El Shaarawy stunner, but Inter equalised in the second thanks to Ivan Perisic.

As a result, Roma move a point behind fourth place AC Milan, while Inter maintained their five point gap to the Rossoneri.

Inter started off well, but it was Roma who had the best of the early chances. Edin Dzeko had the first of these but his great opportunity was wasted when he dispatched a tame effort.

Mere moments later, Aleksandar Kolarov smashed a powerful effort that flew a whisker wide. The hosts responded with a Lautaro Martinez header that was expertly saved by Antonio Mirante.

Then El Shaarawy did what he does best, cutting inside onto his right foot and producing a beautiful curling shot to beat Samir Handanovic. Il Faraone went close to scoring again, but his left foot attempt was saved this time by the Inter captain.

Luciano Spalletti’s men pushed for the equaliser and went very close to scoring on three occasions just before half time. Kwadwo Asamoah produced a great solo effort, dribbling past three opponents and then having his shot deflected just wide, Matias Vecino had his shot saved and Danilo D’Ambrosio fired one over.

Claudio Ranieri brought on Nicolo Zaniolo against his former club at the start of the second half, replacing a non existent Cengiz Under.

Spalletti decided to go with two up front, with Mauro Icardi on for Radja Nainggolan. The former captain was booed and whistles by the Curva Nord, with the rest of the Stadio Meazza cheering in support of the player.

Having an extra man in attack proved the right move for Spalletti, as Perisic had the freedom to head home the easiest of goals to equalise.

Inter then pushed for the winner, as Lautaro went for power rather than accuracy and banged a volley over the bar from inside the box.

Roma were dangerous a couple of times from corner kicks, and with a powerful Kolarov shot saved by Handanovic, but both sides were unable to find the winning goal.

THE RANIERI CURE

Roma are really looking very different to Eusebio Di Francesco’s side now. After a month of Ranieri, the Giallorossi are accustomed to the more conservative style of football. Solid at the back, at the Meazza they produced a lot of chances also going forward, showing how Ranieri’s pragmatism can work perfectly well. They look very different to the inconsistent team they were under Di Francesco. It’s still early days to say if it’s really better or worse on the long term, but Roma are a different beast now.

LAUTARO-ICARDI

One of the main topics of the season for Inter has been whether or not Icardi and Lautaro can play together. Spalletti thinks not, or at least not from the start, when a team’s balance is crucial for his idea of football. In behind the one single striker is an attacking midfielder, usually Nainggolan. When needed, though, Spalletti has played the two Argentinian strikers together, and it has brought some results, such as the victory at Parma and the home win over Napoli. It’s no coincidence that Inter increased their attacking power after the entrance of Icardi tonight. Lautaro can go deeper and help the build up, whilst Icardi fills up the box. The two can play together, and it can bring results for the Nerazzurri.