(ANSA) – MILAN, 29 OTT – Inter, with a goal from Frenchman Marcus Thuram, beat Roma 1-0 at home and regained sole leadership of Serie A, whose tenth round then offered Milan’s visit to defending champion, Napoli.
Inter fans whistled and insulted Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku throughout the match, who signed for Roma after having played last season for the “neroazzurro” team on loan from Chelsea.
Given the failure of the negotiations for Lukaku’s return to the team led by Simone Inzaghi, the Inter board hired Thuram, who was released from Borussia Moenchengladbach.
The 26-year-old forward sealed Inter’s agonizing victory by pushing a cross from the left by Federico Dimarco almost under the goal guarded by the Portuguese Rui Patricio.
Inter, also the leader of its group in the Champions League, a tournament in which it was runner-up last season, showed its superiority against Roma, which at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium had the Portuguese Salvatore Foti as coach because José Mourinho was suspended after being sent off. in the 1-0 win against Monza.
Inter’s superiority was seen with the dominance of the ball and the field for most of the match in which, in addition, the Turkish Hakan Calhanoglu and the Brazilian Carlos Augusto crashed shots against the crossbar at each stage of the match.
Inter, which fielded the Argentine Lautaro Martínez (reprimanded) and included the Brazilian Carlos Augusto in the 83rd minute, now has 25 points, two more than Juventus, which the day before beat Hellas Verona 1-0 (8).
“It was a very important, well-deserved victory. It is a great sign of the team that was always clear in the game, against an opponent that created difficulties for us, because they played an excellent defensive game. But we won with merit,” Inzaghi considered at a press conference.
“I saw the team always lucid, never nervous. We finished an excellent week and on Saturday we return to the field, tonight I have little to say to the boys,” celebrated the coach ahead of the duel with Juventus for the eleventh round.
“Luckily I played in some finals. There was a particular atmosphere, but as usually happens: our fans are fantastic and help us a lot,” highlighted the “neroazzurro” coach.
“I haven’t seen Lukaku, I already expressed my thoughts in the summer. Everyone knows what I did to bring him back here, then in football, as in life, decisions are made,” Inzaghi told the Dazn network. .
“I have accepted it. If I had seen him, I would have greeted him without any problem. I make my decisions for the good of Inter,” Inzaghi concluded in reference to Lukaku, who responded with applause and a smile to the whistles from the club’s fans. “neroazzurro” dedicated him when he entered the playing field.
For its part, Roma, which had Argentine Leandro Paredes (reprimanded and replaced at 89′), finished in a distant eighth place with 14 points.
“With all the fatigue accumulated and with little time to prepare for the game, I think the boys played an important game. I think everyone’s feeling, not only mine, but also them and their stadium, was that the game would end in a draw “, analyzed Mourinho on the official channels of Rome.
“The team was calm despite all the difficulties, (Gianluca) Mancini and (the Frenchman Evan) Ndicka were cautioned, two warnings that seemed like options like those given to (Bryan) Cristante and Paredes in midfield, while Inter only counted with (the Frenchman Benjamin) Pavard”, criticized the Portuguese coach.
“I regret the result, the boys made an important effort, the goal was avoidable. I regret that there was no respect towards the players, (Fabio) Maresca’s attitude towards Mancini and Ndicka shows everything,” he questioned about the referee.
“I am happy with the concept of a team in difficulty, we did not have half of the team available, (Leonardo) Spinazzola, (Argentine Paulo) Dybala, (English Chris) Smalling, (Portuguese) Renato Sanches, (Lorenzo) Pellegrini” , he recalled.
“Coming here with half the team with another gift from the League because we played on Sunday and not on Monday, the boys were fine. I’m sad because we deserved more,” Mourinho concluded.
“We arrived a little short on energy, we had prepared it like that expecting them and that late goal was disappointing. They are a strong team, they have a bigger squad and we didn’t have the energy to attack them throughout the game,” commented Bryan Cristante, Roma midfielder, also against Dazn.
“In the first half they did much better, we had prepared them to wait for them and unlock it at the end. That goal could have been avoided, once conceded it was difficult to recover it,” he acknowledged.
“Inter has a large squad, they can play two games in a row and they have many starters on the bench. They are another level in Serie A,” the midfielder insisted.
“We knew the atmosphere we found and it didn’t bother us too much. Romelu is fine, if he doesn’t score a goal in one night, nothing happens. It was a difficult game for everyone,” Cristante concluded.
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2023-10-30 01:25:29
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