Inter-Roma 5-2 goals from Lautaro, Mancini, Calhanoglu, Thuram, Barella and Pellegrini

Lautaro is back, Thu-La is back, and Inter is back on track, as before and more than before. If there were any doubts about Lautaro’s dependence, about how necessary, indeed fundamental, the captain is, they have been swept away. Double by Lautaro on two assists by Marcus Thuram. Goal from Thuram himself on a corner from Calhanoglu and Calhanoglu himself scored with a phantasmagorical shot. Barella, scorer of the fifth goal, was also resurrected.

INTER HAS RECOVERED – In the darkest hour, with Napoli and Milan emboldened by Inter’s slowdown, Inter’s hard core – captain Lautaro, Thuram, Calhanoglu, Barella and Dimarco, the latter a different player compared to the defeat in Bosnia with the national team – made things clear: Inter are there and want this scudetto with all their strength. Lautaro had been missing for 46 days, having injured himself in Bodo in Norway, in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs. Outside him, the light had gone out. Once he returned, the spotlight was back on. At the moment Inter are plus nine over Milan and plus ten over Napoli. Napoli and Milan are about to face each other at the Maradona. A draw between Napoli and Milan would almost hand the scudetto to Inter. Conversely, the victory of one or the other would designate the anti-Inter, but if we go by what we saw last night, the margins for a comeback seem minimal. The break benefited Inter. Chivu recharged the Azzurri dazed by the defeat in Bosnia, the team found its legs and head. Roma was demolished. The defeat of the Gasperinians is heavy, it risks irremediably moving the Giallorossi away from fourth place, and fuels doubts and perplexities about Gasperini’s gaming revolution. The absences are a non-generic mitigating factor, Dybala, Wesley, Koné were missing, as well as Ferguson and Dovbyk, but a blow like this cannot be explained only by those who were not there. In the first half Roma were in the game. In the second half he gave in, the victim of a structural and mental collapse, quite unpredictable based on what we had seen in the first 45 minutes.

IN BALANCE – As in Florence before the break, Inter immediately took the lead. Vertical ball from Akanji to Thuram on the right. The Frenchman was marked with slackness by Ndicka, on the cross of his teammate Lautaro Martinez he forcefully anticipated Celik, in a desperate defensive diagonal, and beat Svilar with a domineering shot. The lead generated a long wave on which Inter surfed, but not enough for the 2-0. Great shot from outside by Calhanoglu, blocked by Svilar; Dimarco’s re-aggression and conclusion just wide. Then another sharp shot from Lautaro, with Svilar attentive at the near post, an opportunity created by another vertical development, but to the left, on the Zielinski-Dimarco axis. All this happened in the first quarter of an hour. Then Inter slowed down, perhaps to catch their breath, the propulsive force waned and Roma emerged, with an enveloping game based on the flanks. Celik and Solulé on the right and Rensch on the left have become increasingly incisive and annoying for the Nerazzurri’s defensive readings. Malen with his cuts created difficulties for Acerbi and Bastoni, who were worried about the Dutchman’s disappearing movements. Thus, in the 24th minute, a super Sommer was necessary. Clumsy and showy foul by Bastoni on Malen at the top right, Soulé’s free kick catches the Dutchman at the far post. The centre-forward’s header, with Dumfries dozing in the marking, was cleared by Sommer with a cheetah reflex. Deflection for corner and danger averted, but the alarm bells went off. Roma took over. Sommer was again decisive in an advance on Soulé, served by Ndicka with a header. So the 1-1 draw, which came from the flanks, areas where Inter were suffering, was not surprising. Rensch freed himself on the left and his cross “kissed” the head of Mancini, who broke into the Inter area without being disturbed. The blow was strong. Chivu sent Darmian to warm up, perhaps he was thinking of inserting him to strengthen the side lanes. Calhanoglu took care of freeing San Siro from the specter of an interval full of ghosts. From around 40 metres, the Turk saw Svilar badly placed and punished him with a right foot that was terrifying in terms of power and spin. Lead restored, 2-1. Inter struck at the beginning and end of a good first half. Inter and Roma played it out without pretense, openly, fairly evenly.

ONLY THE INTER – Inter emerged from the changing rooms with the eyes of the tiger, but seriously, not just in a manner of speaking. Roma perhaps didn’t expect such ferocity and were bitten. The first twenty minutes of the second half were terrible for Gasperini’s team. 52nd minute: on Acerbi’s pass from the back, Rensch collapsed in front of Thuram and the Frenchman flew away, serving Lautaro, free to beat Svilar with the goal almost wide open. 55th minute: Calhanoglu’s corner from the left and Thuram heads it into the net, with the Roma defense dazed. 63rd minute: Barella’s strike in the area, something overwhelming, on which the Roma defenders lost all possible rebounds, and the conversation was closed by an angry shot. Five to one, and it wasn’t even halfway through the second half. Roma had a jolt with Lorenzo Pellegrini: on a second ball generated by an attempt by Malen on the left, Pellegrini hit Sommer with a left foot and made an epochal defeat less oppressive, the eleventh in the league, the fifteenth of the season, and these are numbers that speak of a failure. At 5-2, Inter enjoyed other opportunities, especially with Pio Esposito, who replaced Thuram, to make the result a tennis set. Inter has rediscovered the desire and pleasure to play. Lautaro has consolidated his lead in the top scorer rankings and has reached sixteen goals in the championship. There can’t be Inter without Lautaro, not yet. The dependence on the captain is almost total. With him, the team has a strong reference. Lautaro is the leader of the pack. We knew it, tonight’s 5-2 reiterated it loud and clear.