Inzaghi pleased with Inter´s spirit against Roma despite early injury nightmare

Inter boss Simone Inzaghi hailed his team’s fighting spirit after Sunday’s 1-0 Serie A win over Roma.

Early injuries to Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi threatened to derail Inter’s chances on Sunday, but the Serie A champions held firm to secure the points.

Inzaghi was pleased with the team’s performance and result, with Lautaro Martinez scoring the only goal of the game in the second half, but could not ignore the setbacks suffered by two key players.

“Calhanoglu wasn’t in great shape over the last two days, so with the other two available I would’ve rested him this evening. He is generous and tried to put in the effort, but he felt the adductor pain and stopped before it got worse,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

“Roma are a solid side with a lot of good players coming off the bench, so the fact we had to use up two substitutions was a real problem.”

The victory lifted Inter to second in the Serie A table, one point behind league leaders Napoli and one point above as yet unbeaten Juventus, who they face in their next league game.

Lautaro, goal and record: “It means so much; from the very first day, it’s as if I’ve been born here.”#ForzaInter #RomaInter

— Inter (@Inter_en) October 20, 2024

Aside from the injuries, Inzaghi was pleased with how the evening played out.

“Roma are a strong team with quality, so the lads did really well. The first half was balanced, in the second we had two or three opportunities to double our lead and should’ve killed off the game,” he said.

Striker Martinez was singled out for praise by his manager after netting his third league goal of the season and 133rd for Inter in all competitions, which put him level with the club’s all-time scoring record for a non-Italian.

“He just has to keep doing what he has done with Inter and Argentina. I think he is one of the five best players in the world. He deserves all of this success,” Inzaghi said.