Lautaro Martinez inspired another unlikely Inter fightback as his double rescued a 2-2 draw away to AS Roma following Manu Kone’s first-half brace.
A top-of-the-table clash between the only two sides with perfect records after four rounds of the Serie A season delivered an exhilarating spectacle as the reigning champions locked horns with a Roma side many have tipped as Scudetto dark horses.
Inter had fought back from two goals down to beat Napoli and Udinese in their last two league games and incredibly found themselves facing the same challenge after an outstanding first-half showing from Roma.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side came flying out of the blocks and went in front inside five minutes when Kone finished a well-worked move with a composed strike, before piling on the pressure with a suffocating press that Inter struggled to deal with.
But just as the visitors started to come out of their shell as Mile Svilar denied Yann Bisseck one-on-one and Alessandro Bastoni clipped a post, Kone scored his second of the night with a close-range finish that was initially ruled out for offside before VAR overturned the decision.
Whatever Christian Chivu told his players during the break clearly worked, as Inter were level within a minute of the restart when Martinez met the pass of strike partner Marcus Thuram to guide a finish into the bottom corner.
Inter’s tails were up, but a breathless game continued to go from end to end, and Roma came close to a third when Donyell Malen’s powerful shot on the spin cannoned back off the head of Josep Martinez from point-blank range.
Roma somehow stayed in front when Svilar pulled off an incredible save, and Martinez hit the bar from a corner, but moments later the ball was worked back into the box and the Argentine found space to hammer in the leveller.
Neither side could land a knockout blow in the final 10 minutes as both teams dropped points for the first time this season, while remaining joint-top of the table on 13 points.
