Icardi brace sees Inter stun wasteful Roma

AFP, Milan :
Mauro Icardi scored a second-half brace as Inter Milan rocked Roma 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday to send out an early-season statement of intent to their Serie A title rivals.
An early opener from Edin Dzeko, Serie A’s top scorer last season with 29 goals, had a packed Olimpico jumping in anticipation of Roma starting their home campaign with a win.
But the hosts, playing under the watchful eye of new club director Francesco Totti, were stunned into silence in a thrilling second half.
Inter followed Juventus — 4-2 comeback winners at Genoa thanks to a Paulo Dybala hat-trick — in making it back-to-back victories to start the season and also vindicated their new coach Luciano Spalletti.
Spalletti brought his second spell in charge of Roma to an end last season, when the saga surrounding club legend Totti’s possible retirement weighed heavily on the coach’s shoulders.
He moved to Inter determined to make a fresh start with an underperforming side, who finished seventh and out of Europe altogether.
And in only two games, Spalletti has won over the Inter faithful. Saturday’s win, a week after a 3-0 San Siro triumph over Fiorentina, was Inter’s first at the Olimpico since 2008.
Spalletti later told Mediaset Premium: “Roma played well, they were unlucky hitting the woodwork so often, but sometimes luck goes the way of the side which has the courage to do the running.
“We, too, made mistakes but we kept digging away, we never stopped pouring forward and in the end we were repaid.”
Yet, trailing 1-0 and having seen Roma’s Aleksandar Kolarov and Radja Nainggolan both hit the woodwork in the opening half, there was little to suggest Spalletti’s men would launch a successful comeback.
Inter escaped trial by the VAR on 55 minutes when Milan Skriniar appeared to trip Diego Perotti at the by-line.
Roma hit the woodwork for the third time on 65 minutes when Perotti’s drive bounced off the inside of the far top corner.