Milan: Inter Milan were held to a goalless draw by Roma at the San Siro on Friday, leaving the way open for Italian champions Juventus to reclaim top spot in Serie A this weekend.
The match in the San Siro had been overshadowed by a racism storm after Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport’s controversial “Black Friday” headline.
The front-page headline accompanied an article about the first Serie A meeting between former Manchester United teammates Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling.
On the pitch, defender Smalling and Gianluca Mancini stifled Inter’s prolific strike duo Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, who between them have scored 18 of their team’s goals in 15 league games this season.
Conte’s side proved toothless in attack against a well-organised Roma, failing to find the net for the first time this season, days before their Champions League clash against Barcelona.
“The great merit of Roma is having stopped Lautaro-Lukaku,” said coach Paulo Fonseca.
“Inter’s main chances came from our mistakes, but we always played the ball with courage and that’s what I want for the team.
“We did well defensively. Smalling and Mancini had a good game like the whole team, it’s certainly not easy against Inter.”
Lukaku, Marcelo Brozovic and Matias Vecino all missed chances for the hosts as Roma snatched a precious point to move fourth and into the Champions League places.
Inter were lacking in midfield with Stefano Sensi, Nicolo Barella and Roberto Gagliardini all out with Roma missing goalkeeper Pau Lopez while Edin Dzeko started on the bench after flu, but came on for the final 25 minutes.
Midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo took Dzeko’s place up front with Roma dominating the first half hour, although Inter had the best chances with Antonio Mirante denying Lukaku after a blundering Jordan Veretout back-pass.
A similar error from the Roma goalkeeper nearly proved costly when Mirante passed the ball straight to Lukaku on the edge of the area just before the break but Marcelo Brozovic wastefully fired over the bar.
In Serie A, Atletico Madrid’s title hopes look to be all-but over after a goalless draw away at Villarreal on Friday night raised further doubts about their progress under coach Diego Simeone.
After losing at home to Barcelona last weekend, another slip means Atletico are now five points behind Barca and Real Madrid in La Liga, despite having played two games more.
It means by the time Simeone’s side head into the Christmas break, the gap could have stretched to double figures and that will be hard to close, especially given they play both Barcelona and Real Madrid away from home in the second half of the season.
Familiar failings in attack proved their undoing at la Ceramica, where Villarreal, who climb to 12th, were fully deserving of their point and could easily have snatched a victory too.
Simeone has said this is a transition season for the team but there will be no excuses if they fail to make the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday. Only a win at home to Lokomotiv Moscow will guarantee their qualification.
Results
Friday’s Matches
Serie A
Inter Milano 0 AS Roma 0
La Liga
Villarreal 0 Atletico 0