With the Serie A campaign nearing a close, and Inter and Napoli side by side at the summit, every game is a must-win for the Milan club at this stage of the season.
A clash with Roma represented a potential banana skin for the Nerazzurri, but they thought they’d got off to the perfect start when Davide Frattesi put the ball in the net inside 10 minutes, only for the assistant referee’s flag to cut short his celebrations.
Their misery was compounded midway through the first half when the Giallorossi took a shock lead. There was a huge element of fortune involved, but the visitors didn’t mind when a loose ball fell favourably for Matias Soule inside the area and he slammed home to silence the San Siro.
Things could’ve got a whole lot worse for Inter just moments after when Roma twice went close to extending their lead through Eldor Shomurodov and Bryan Cristante, but neither managed to work Yann Sommer in the hosts’ goal.
For an Inter side so desperate for a goal to reignite their title hopes, their response was a little underwhelming, and they never truly came close to finding a leveller within 20 minutes of the restart. That prompted Simone Inzaghi to make a double change, but he must’ve been left scratching his head when his substitutes had little effect.
In truth, the game should’ve been beyond the hosts 20 minutes from time when Niccolo Pisilli was afforded the freedom of the San Siro inside the area, but he incredibly volleyed wide from 12 yards out.
The chances were coming thick and fast for Roma, and they wasted another one just minutes later when Artem Dovbyk raced clear, but his sluggish footwork allowed Francesco Acerbi to get back at him and make a goal-saving tackle.
A mere one shot on target in the second half from Inter by the time of the 85th showed just how badly they struggled today. It was a crushing blow to Inter’s title hopes, and they’ll now be watching Napoli later tonight in the hope they slip up too.
The day belonged to Roma, who boosted their own top-four hopes, although their fate is as yet out of their own hands.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Matias Soule (AS Roma)
See all the match stats with Flashscore.
In the other 15:00 CET kick-off in Serie A, Fiorentina beat Empoli 2-1 to stay in the mix for the European places.