The Japan Times - Martinez brace saves Inter in Serie A top-two clash with Roma

With both sides holding perfect records heading into the top-two clash in the capital, it was an early season glimpse of what may well be the Scudetto race this term.

Gian Piero Gasperini's Roma have arguably been the most impressive team in Italy so far this season, with Donyell Malen's free-scoring form and a miserly defence giving them four wins from four.

Manu Kone's double had given Roma a 2-0 lead at half-time but for the second time in a week Cristian Chivu's side, inspired by Martinez's brace, showed mettle as the champions fought back from such a deficit.

Following the announcement earlier in the day of the death of Sandro Mazzola at the age of 83, both sides paid hommage to the former Inter Milan and Italy playmaker prior to kick-off, with the Nerazzurri also sporting black armbands.

Roma raced out of the blocks as Kone sent them ahead with less than six minutes on the clock when he readjusted his body well to rifle home Nahuel Molina's knockdown.

It was the France midfielder's first goal of the season as Inter again made a sluggish start that will worry coach Cristian Chivu.

The champions had also bounced back from being 2-0 down inside the opening 16 minutes at home to Udinese to emerge 5-3 winners on Monday.

But Inter were not at the races for most of the opening period at the Stadio Olimpico as Paulo Dybala twice threatened to double the hosts' advantage.

France forward Marcus Thuram had a golden opportunity to get Chivu's men level in the 26th minute but could only fire straight at Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar.

A clever Curtis Jones pass then presented Alessandro Bastoni with a chance at goal seven minutes later, but the Italy defender thrashed the ball against the post from a tight angle.

However, just as Inter slowly seemed to be waking up, Kone had the ball in the net again when he tucked in from close range at the back post on 37 minutes.

His celebrations were initially cut short by the assistant's flag before VAR intervened and, after a lengthy review, referee Davide Massa pointed to the centre circle as the 25-year-old skipped off in delight after notching the sixth Serie A goal of his career.

- Inter awaken -

Former Inter defender Chivu must have delivered some choice words to his charges at half-time as his side started the second period with a bang.

Inter captain Martinez halved the deficit less than a minute after the interval with a scuffed finish from Thuram's pull-back that just crept perfectly into the side netting of Svilar's far post.

Dutch forward Malen came within a forehead's breadth of adding to his tally of six goals in the 68th minute with a slick touch and turn in a crowded box, only for his venomous strike to cannon to safety off Inter stopper Josep Martinez's brow.

Just as the match appeared to be petering out going into the final 10 minutes, a sudden goalmouth scramble saw Svilar make a sharp save before Martinez headed onto the bar under pressure.

Inter, however, managed to recycle the ball and it came back to the Argentine international inside the box and this time he made no mistake as he controlled with his thigh and arrowed a finish past the Serb to ensure the spoils were shared.

Elsewhere, third-placed Cagliari climbed to 12 points courtesy of a 1-0 win at Udinese, while Bologna and Torino played out a 1-1 draw in Emilia-Romagna.

Venezia host Roma's city rivals Lazio in Saturday's final match.

M.Saito--JT