Inter on Saturday continued their march to the Serie A title after battling back to beat AS Roma 4-2 to extend their league lead over Juventus to seven points.
Marcus Thuram was key to Inter’s win at a soaking Stadio Olimpico in Rome as, with his team trailing at halftime, the France attacker made it two goals each shortly after halftime and forced the Angelino own-goal which put Inter ahead in the 56th minute.
Alessandro Bastoni finished Roma off in stoppage-time with a first-time strike at the end of a counterattack as the hosts pushed for a leveler.
Photo: Reuters
“They ate us alive in the first half ... but in the second half we went out there and showed everyone who we are,” Bastoni told DAZN. “More than a tactical switch it was a mental change which changed things after the break.”
It was the second week in a row that Thuram had made an opposing player push the ball into his own net after Federico Gatti’s own-goal in the previous weekend’s win over Juve.
Simone Inzaghi’s side now await the result of Juve’s home fixture with struggling Udinese today to see how far they would be in front after this weekend’s fixtures.
Inter have won seven straight matches in all competitions as they aim to beat local rivals AC Milan to a 20th league title, with both teams stuck on 19.
Meanwhile, Roma missed the chance to move into the UEFA Champions League positions after Daniele de Rossi’s first defeat since taking charge of his boyhood club last month.
They led at the break through Gianluca Mancini and Stephan El Shaarawy, taking control of the match after Francesco Acerbi’s looping header had put Inter ahead in the 17th minute.
However, De Rossi’s team stay a point behind fourth-placed Atalanta BC, who have two games in hand on the majority of their top-four rivals and were to travel to Genoa yesterday.
“If we want to go toe-to-toe with teams of this level we can’t be distracted for a moment,” De Rossi said. “I think the match was basically even ... but I’m proud of the attitude and the performance of my players. They gave everything. I think we’re on the right track.”
Earlier, Ciro Immobile scored his 200th Serie A goal as SS Lazio warmed up for their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich by beating Cagliari 3-1.
Italy forward Immobile, who is Lazio’s all-time top scorer, put his team two goals ahead three minutes after halftime in Sardinia after Alessandro Deiola’s first-half own-goal handed them the lead.
Felipe Anderson rounded off the scoring in the 65th minute to move Lazio up to sixth, two points behind fourth-placed Atalanta in the race for next season’s Champions League.
Captain Immobile, 33, is one of just eight players to have scored 200 goals or more in Italy’s top flight and the only one still playing.
In Saturday’s other Serie A match, US Sassuolo drew 1-1 with Torino.
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