Nainggolan brace rocks Inter
milan — A spectacular double from Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan kept the Serie A title race ticking over after Roma stunned Inter Milan 3-1 at the San Siro on Sunday.
Inter welcomed Luciano Spalletti’s visitors confident of avenging their 2-1 defeat in the capital having suffered only one defeat, away to Juventus, in their past 10 league outings.
But in what is club captain Francesco Totti’s 25th and final season in Serie A, a rampant Roma had other ideas. Nainggolan had the Giallorossi 1-0 up on 12 minutes with a ferocious strike and doubled their advantage with an even more impressive offering shortly after the restart. Although Mauro Icardi marked his return from a two-game ban by reducing arrears on 81 minutes, Diego Perotti restored the visitors’ two-goal advantage from the spot on 85 minutes. Roma remain second and, after Juventus stretched their lead to 10 points with a 2-0 win over Empoli, restored the gap on the Turin giants to seven points.
Nainggolan was easily Roma’s best player, but said: “All I do is what I’m told to, and I’m enjoying myself. I’ve been given a little bit more freedom on the pitch so I’m trying to help the team as much as I can.”
The win was all the more important after Napoli’s title bid was dented by a 2-0 defeat at home to Atalanta on Saturday which left Maurizio Sarri’s men in third place, but now 12 points off the pace.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was unequivocal. Although he hailed a “great game between two top sides”, he added: “If we’d passed the ball around for 10 seconds more on some occasions, we would have destroyed them.”
Inter coach Stefano Pioli lamented: “We had chances, but they were more clinical than us. They have a lot of qualities.”
Napoli’s defeat should have inspired Inter to keep on challenging for a top three finish, but events conspired to upset their plans in the early stages. —