Chris Smalling, a defender for AS Roma, scored a second-half header that proved to be the game-winning goal as his team defeated Inter Milan 2-1 on the road in Serie A on Saturday.
In the 75th minute, Smalling scored off a header from a Lorenzo Pellegrini free kick from around 44 yards away.
Paulo Dybala scored the equalizer for Roma nine minutes later, his fourth goal in Serie A this season, off a beautiful cross from defender Leonardo Spinazzola.
A goal scored by Inter striker Edin Dzeko in the 11th minute was disallowed by the VAR due to an offside offence.
Currently sitting in fourth place with 16 points after eight games, Roma will host Lecce, who are in the fifteenth, on October 9.
The following week, on October 8, Inter will visit Sassuolo, who are in the eleventh position, on their way to a matchup with 13th placed Salernitana on October 16.
Due to his dismissal from a previous league encounter, Jose Mourinho was not present on the Roma bench for the game against Inter but his absence was irrelevant.
Despite falling behind early, his team rallied for a 5-3 victory, their fifth of the Serie A season. They are now tied with 4th placed Udinese with 16 points heading into the game against Lecce on October 9.
Meanwhile, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter has lost four of their first eight games in the Champions League and will look to turn things around when they play Barcelona on Tuesday night.
The confidence of Inter Milan is still in tatters. After Roma scored their second goal and gained confidence in their play, they were able to break through Inter’s midfield with relative ease and create scoring opportunities. The home team had more confidence as they sat back in the first half and invited pressure.
If things had gone differently, Inter might have been up 3-0 before Roma even got going. To counter Inter’s offensive supremacy, the visitors should have started either Tammy Abraham or Andrea Belotti.
In the absence of those two, the spotlight was on Chris Smalling who gave a Man of the Match performance from the defense line to the attack line.
The former England center-back played an outstanding match, bolstered by his knowledge that Jose Mourinho has him in the position that best utilizes his skills.
When Inter dominated play in the first half, Smalling was the last defender on the field. To put it another way, Smalling’s seven clearances were more than double those of his fellow central defenders.
The game-winning header he scored was the result of excellent anticipation of the cross’ trajectory. To keep Roma ahead as Inter pressured in the final minutes, Smalling cleared a goal off the line.
Chris Smalling gives his thoughts on Roma’s triumph.
The Englishman appeared to be overjoyed by his team’s performance against a formidable opponent like the Nerazzurri.
Following the game, he expressed his delight at the victory while speaking with DAZN.
“This was a huge victory, and we need to keep rolling since we play Real Betis on Thursday”, Smalling remarked.
“We fought hard to the finish, we showed great team spirit tonight.” I’d like to keep this up and add to my team’s goal total.
“We’re not just going to win with 11 starters; our team is strong. I believe that we can accomplish a lot this year.”
Watch the highlights below:
