Thuram scores a winner against Roma, Lukaku without a shot

Since it was reported that Romelu Lukaku was flirting with Juventus in his desperate attempt to secure a transfer away from Chelsea, the Belgian forward is at ‘war’ with Inter Milan. Ahead of tonight’s duel with Roma, Inter fans wanted to bring in 30,000 whistles to the stadium in order to make Lukaku’s life ‘a living hell’, but the question remains – why are they so angry with the player? His ties with Juventus were never proven, the probable transfer with Chelsea would have been too expensive for Inter anyway, and what’s more important: why do they need Lukaku, when they have Marcus Thuram?

Apart from Lautaro Martinez, a top scorer with 11 goals so far, the newly acquired striker has three goals so far, along with seven assists, and he just added another one, which was enough for another win over Gialorossi: Inter Milan – Roma 1-0. Many things have changed in Serie A over the years, but few remained the same: Inter likes to win against Roma. Jose Mourinho’s team have won just one of the last 12 Serie A games between these two. Inter won five of those matches. Roma came from behind to beat Inter 2-1 at San Siro last season, with Chris Smalling and Paolo Dybala scoring both goals, but it was only one slight exception to the rule. Inter have beaten Roma 76 times in Serie A - more than any other opponent, and tonight they raised the number to 77.

Inter totally deserved the victory not only because they were better, but they had more chances, unlike Roma. Jose Mourinho decided to ‘park the bus’ in front of his goal, but unlike in some other games with various clubs during his long career, this time he failed. And he failed just 10 minutes before the end, when Thuram finally did what Calhanoglu (twice) Martinez and others failed to do during the game. Inter had 19 total shots in this match, and some were saved by Patricio, and some were just blocked by other Roma players, before Thuram broke the deadlock. On the opposite side, the visiting team managed its first shot at Inter’s goal in the 66th minute! It was, by the way, a great chance for Cristante but Sommer made an excellent save. As for Lukaku, he didn’t have a good game due to Mourinho’s defensive tactics, but that’s not an excuse for shameful statistics – no shots for 90 minutes.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 10

Friday

Genoa - Salernitana 1-0 (1-0)

/Gudmundsson 35/

Saturday

Sassuolo - Bologna 1-1 (1-1)

/Boloca 44 - Zirkzee 3/

Lecce - Torino 0-1 (0-1)

/Buongiorno 41/

Juventus - Hellas Verona 1-0 (0-0)

/Cambiaso 90+7/

Sunday

Cagliari - Frosinone 4-3 (0-2)

/Oristanio 72, Makoumbou 76, Pavoletti 90+4, 90+6 - Soule 23, 37, Brescianini 49/

Monza - Udinese 1-1 (1-0)

/Colpani 27 - Lucca 67/

Inter - Roma 1-0 (0-0)

/Thuram 81/

22.45: (2.25) Napoli (3.50) Milan (3.40)

Monday

20.30: (4.90) Empoli (3.60) Atalanta (1.75)

22.45: (2.35) Lazio (3.45) Fiorentina (3.20)

***odds are subject to change***