April 27, (THEWILL) – Inter Milan experienced their third defeat in seven days after losing 1-0 to Roma at San Siro on Sunday, potentially opening the door for Napoli in the Serie A title race.
The defending champions now remain just one point ahead of Napoli, who have a game in hand against Torino later in the day.
The match began with promise for Inter when David Frattesi found the net early, but his effort was disallowed for offside.
Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar made an important save to deny Hakan Calhanoglu before the visitors took control.
Matias Soule capitalised on a fortunate deflection from Lorenzo Pellegrini’s shot to score what proved to be the winning goal in the 22nd minute.
Despite pushing for an equaliser after half-time, Inter lacked sharpness in attack with both Calhanoglu and Nicolo Barella sending their attempts wide of the target.
Roma nearly extended their lead through Niccolo Pissili’s strike that went narrowly wide and Artem Dovbyk’s effort which forced a save from Yann Sommer.
The result sees Claudio Ranieri’s Roma climb to eighth position in the Serie A standings, now sitting just two points away from the top four.
For Simone Inzaghi’s Inter, attention must quickly shift to their upcoming Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona, though domestic concerns will certainly linger following this disappointing performance.
This defeat comes at a particularly troubling time for Inter, following their elimination from the Coppa Italia on Wednesday after losing to city rivals AC Milan in the semi-final second leg.
The defending Serie A champions will need to regain their form quickly to maintain their advantage in what has become an increasingly competitive title race with Napoli.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.