Soccer Football - Serie A - AS Roma v Inter Milan - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - October 20, 2024 Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella in action with AS Roma's Paulo Dybala REUTERS/Remo Casilli
ROME, Italy (Reuters) -Inter Milan secured a 1-0 victory at AS Roma on Sunday, courtesy of a second-half goal from Lautaro Martinez in a tightly contested Serie A match.
Martinez made the breakthrough on the hour mark, controlling the ball on the edge of the area before firing it into the net.
Inter are now second in the table with 17 points, two behind leaders Napoli, while Roma are 10th with 10 points.
There were numerous chances for both sides to break the deadlock in the first half, but Roma keeper Mile Svilar and his Inter counterpart Yann Sommer made several impressive saves to keep an intense opening period goalless.
Inter's Hakan Calhanoglu had to leave the field after 12 minutes with an apparent injury, and he was followed off shortly after by Italy international Francesco Acerbi.
Following Martinez's goal, both sides battled to seize the momentum.
Svilar made a one-handed save to deny Inter's Denzel Dumfries, while Sommer dived to block a powerful snapshot from Matias Soule in the dying moments of the match, securing all three points for Inter.
Roma coach Ivan Juric defended his team's performance despite the loss.
"I think we started too timid, I didn't like the first 15 minutes, but after that we did really well until the goal. The goal was just an accident and you pay a heavy price for that at this level," he told DAZN.
"We had a lot of chances, but we also made too many technical errors and that was a gift to Inter.
"We definitely need to raise the quality level in the final third and that will make us more effective."
Fiorentina cruised to a dominant 6-0 victory at Lecce on Sunday, marking the first time they have scored six goals in an away Serie A match since 1966.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Toby Davis)
