Inter, Roma claim late victories on dramatic day in Serie A

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MILAN: Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez (L) scores during the Serie A match against Napoli at San Siro.—Reuters
MILAN: Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez (L) scores during the Serie A match against Napoli at San Siro.—Reuters

MILAN: Lautaro Martinez scored in the 91st minute as Inter Milan rallied from two goals down to secure a stunning 3-2 home Serie A victory over Napoli on Saturday, while Roma moved to the top of the table with another late win, against Atalanta.

Napoli looked to be on course for victory when Matteo Politano and Rasmus Hojlund put them 2-0 up after 53 minutes, but Martinez’s first goal halved the deficit and Marcus Thuram equalised eight minutes from the end.

Both sides had excellent chances to win it after that but it was Inter who took theirs when Martinez stabbed home the ball at the back post from a corner.

After no goals in the first half, the game burst into life on 50 minutes when Politano finished from a rebound.

Three minutes after that Hojlund collected Giovanni di Lorenzo’s pass and scored with a shot that arrowed in from the edge of the box.

Inter hit back three minutes later though as Mart­inez provided a clinical finish, and Thuram’s header from Carlos Augusto levelled the scores.

It was anybody’s game from there as the action went back and forth between the two boxes, but Inter found the moment they needed to take the points.

“We had quality players on the pitch who could make the difference,” Inter coach Cristian Chivu said. “With substitutions we took risks that paid off. At 2-2 it was a game that you don’t see often in Italy, where teams would usually settle for the draw.

“There were sensational chances at both ends and it could have gone either way.”

Roma scored twice past the 90th minute to claim a 2-1 victory over Atalanta and move to the top of Serie A following a dramatic clash at the Stadio Olimpico.

Ederson’s opener for Ata­lanta looked to be steering them to victory, but Roma equalised through Mario Hermoso’s looping header.

They were not content with the point though and continued to push forward, allowing Matias Soule to score via a loose ball in the box in the 93rd minute to snatch all three points.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2026

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