Gary Medel’s long-range strike separated the two sides as Inter emerged victorious against the capital club in a blockbuster Serie A clash.
Inter Milan have snapped AS Roma’s five-match winning streak with a 1-0 victory at the San Siro on Saturday, the goal courtesy of Chilean workhorse Medel on the half-hour mark. The 28-year-old received the ball in an advanced position outside the box and saw his drilled effort settle into the bottom corner, leaving Wojciech Szczesny with no hope of keeping it out.
All hopes of a Giallorossi equaliser were quashed when Miralem Pjanic picked up a second yellow card for handling the ball on 73 minutes.
Roma began the brighter of the two sides, with Mohamed Salah showcasing his menacing pace and trickery to cause the Nerazzurri back-four a few headaches early on. It was Rudi García’s men who managed to test one of the two between the sticks, with Samir Handanovic having to get down low in order to parry an Edin Dzeko header on 15 minutes.
Roma continued their early dominance on the game, with Maicon’s powerful drive saved by the Slovenian goalkeeper and Dzeko’s second effort deflected wide by Danilo D’Ambrosio.
Slightly against the run of play, however, Medel – with his first ever goal in Serie A – scored what proved to be the match-winner with a low effort from 25 yards. Shortly after the break, the goalscorer had to be taken off with injury, with the €37 million man Geoffrey Kondogbia replacing the Chilean.
Not long after this, Handanovic denied Dzeko once again, as the Bosnian’s header was smothered by Inter’s No.1 after a Roma corner. The Nerazzurri’s man of the match was soon at it again, this time making a quartet of saves in quick succession to preserve his side’s clean sheet just after the hour. 10 minutes later, Roma’s chances of gaining anything from the game were dealt a fatal blow, as Pjanic saw red for a deliberate handball.
With Roberto Mancini’s men able to knock the ball about in a more fluid and efficient fashion following the Bosnian’s sending-off, Szczesny was on hand to expertly parry Marcelo Brozovic’s late acrobatic effort wide and ensure the scoreline remained 1-0.
Inter, with their sixth 1-0 victory of the season, have climbed above their opponents on the night to the top of the domestic standings, with Roma now looking to get their title assault back on course in next round’s clash against Lazio in the Derby della Capitale.
Formations
Mancini maintained a formation utilising wingers, though made six personnel changes to his starting lineup. Jeison Murillo returned from suspension to partner João Miranda in the heart of the defence, at the expense of Andrea Ranocchia, while Danilo D’Ambrosio started for the first time this season in Davide Santon’s place and Yuto Nagatomo came in for Juan Jesus at left-back. With Felipe Melo suspended, Medel came back into the starting XI and Fredy Guarín was preferred over Kondogbia. The final change saw club captain Mauro Icardi replaced by Stevan Jovetic.
Inter Milan XI (4-3-3): Handanovic (GK); D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo, Nagatomo; Brozovic, Medel, Guarín; Ljajic, Jovetic, Perišic
Contrastingly, García made only one alteration to his side, with Salah coming back into the starting lineup in place for Iago Falque, with the formation remaining. the same
AS Roma XI (4-3-3): Szczesny (GK); Maicon, Manolas, Rüdiger, Digne; Florenzi, Nainggolan, Pjanic; Gervinho, Dzeko, Salah
Inter’s back-four a remind of Catenaccio
The home side’s previous matches have been somewhat of a throwback to the days of Helenio Herrera’s Inter side that was expert in shutting out opponents through use of a defensive tactic known as Catenaccio.
This entails stringent man-marking and the use of a libero (effectively a sweeper), and while Inter do not employ this specifically, a more modern version of this tactic has been utilised to great effect by the Nerazzurri in recent weeks.
They essentially ‘park the bus’ – there is no man-marking and no sweeper sitting behind the centre-backs. Instead, Mancini’s defenders and midfielders mark space and zones in order to restrict the areas in which opposition can attackers can operate in. This was showcased against Roma, and was a key factor in maintaining a clean sheet. Handanovic’s heroics, though, were also fundamental.
Pjanic’s sending-off signalled the end for Roma
Apart from the goal, García’s men were the more threatening side for much of the game, with the only issue being the inability to get past an inspired Handanovic in goal for Inter.
With Salah’s and Gervinho’s pace and trickery utilised to good effect down the flanks, as well as the danger Dzeko provided up top, a goal may have been forthcoming for the capital club had Pjanic not been given his marching orders on 73 minutes.
The 25-year-old was orchestrating much of the play in midfield for the away side, and his sending-off proved to be a minor turning point in the match. Roma lost their attacking threat and the Nerazzurri were able take advantage of the extra man, becoming more adept at slowing the tempo of the game and creating more openings once the Bosnian had left the pitch.
Width key to Inter’s new-found fluidity in midfield
Since shifting Perišic onto the flank and utlising a formation with width such as 4-3-3, Mancini has seen his side knock the ball about with more purpose and aim, with the match against Roma being a prime example of this.
Although Inter did not create too much in an attacking sense against the Giallorossi, the performance in the final third was an improvement to what has been on display in recent weeks, with Perišic’s increasingly positive showings also a source of encouragement. The tempo in which the home side knocked the ball about at the San Siro allowed opportunities on goal, one of which was Medel’s long-range strike.
With more weeks together on the training field, Mancini can assert his attacking philosophy and make a tactical imprint on his side, much like he has with the defensive aspect of the game, hopefully for Inter fans they will see more comprehensive results than 1-0 victories.
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Conclusion
Having only conceded in four matches out of 11, Inter’s defence looks levels above solid. As has been the case for much of the season though, the attack requires improvement, despite putting in better showings in recent weeks.
Roma, meanwhile, did not do much wrong at the San Siro. The Giallorossi were unfortunate to go behind initially, and against a resolute and structured Inter side, equalising was always going to be a difficult task.
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