Inter reclaim Serie A top spot with 1-0 win against Roma

MILAN, Italy, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram struck late for a deserved 1-0 home win over AS Roma as they reclaimed first place in Serie A on Sunday by moving two points ahead of Juventus.

With nine minutes left Federico Dimarco made a run down the left before delivering a low cross into the box where Thuram outpaced his marker and calmly tapped the ball into the net.

Inter have 25 points from 10 games ahead of Juve on 23.

Juventus briefly claimed top spot after securing a last-second 1-0 victory at home to Hellas Verona on Saturday.

Roma, whose manager Jose Mourinho was suspended and watched the game from the press box, are in eighth place with 14 points.

After the match, Inter manager Simone Inzaghi praised the 26-year-old Thuram.

“What makes the difference is how Thuram works in training every day. He focuses on the details, on the field and off, so he must continue like this,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

“In the first 13 games of this season, I can only praise the lads, but there’s a long way to go in many different tournaments.

“We want to go as far as we can, we know it won’t be easy, but our desire is to improve every single day.”

FIRST CHANCE

Hakan Calhanoglu had the first opportunity for Inter just minutes into the game, unleashing a powerful strike from outside the box that swerved, striking the crossbar.

Roma struggled to disrupt Inter’s play as the hosts created several opportunities in the early stages, including a shot from Thuram that was saved by the legs of goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Inter began the second half as they ended the first with Thuram heading a cross just over the bar in the opening minutes.

Roma came within inches of taking the lead just after the hour when Bryan Cristante’s header was met by an outstanding full-stretch save from Yann Sommer.

With time running out Thuram opened the scoring and they then almost went two goals in front when Carlos Augusto’s long-range strike struck the crossbar.

Roma forward Romelu Lukaku returned to San Siro after leaving Inter in the close season but had little impact as the home defence effectively marked him out of the game.

“I have already expressed my thoughts on Lukaku this summer. Everyone knows what I did to bring him back and what I was prepared to do to keep him here,” Inzaghi said.

“Everyone makes their decisions in life, he made his. My choices are always for the good of Inter and not individual players.”

Inzaghi also clarified that there was no animosity between himself and Lukaku.

“We did not cross paths today, but if we had then I would have said hello with no problems.”

Inter next travel to Atalanta on Saturday before a Champions League group stage match at RB Salzburg on Nov. 8.

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