Inter down Roma to take top spot
INTER MILAN edged Roma 1-0 yesterday to snatch top spot in Serie A while Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado hit an injury-time winner to give champions Juventus a 2-1 win over city rivals Torino 2-1.
Chilean defender Gary Medel scored the only goal of the game at the San Siro on the half-hour mark with a long-range drive which beat Roma keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Roma, who had been top at the start of the day after five successive wins, had chances to salvage a point but were denied by a string of fine saves from Samir Handanovic in the Inter goal.
Roma’s misery was compounded by a red card for Bosnia star Miralem Pjanic after 73 minutes.
“A team is like a house, if you don’t have solid foundations, it will sink,” Inter coach Roberto Mancini told Sky Sport Italia in reference to his team’s seventh win by a 1-0 margin.
In the Turin derby, Paul Pogba put Juventus in front after 19 minutes but Cesare Bovo looked to have saved a point for Torino early in the second period.
However, substitute Cuadrado, on loan from Chelsea, grabbed the winning goal which lifted Juventus into 10th spot, nine points behind Inter.
Juventus went into the match sitting in 12th place, with coach Massimiliano Allegri coming under intense pressure following some poor recent results.
“We had 12 points after 10 rounds, so tension was only natural,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“The team reacted well, obviously we have to improve a lot, but this was a small step forward.” – AFP