Slow start, great escape: Inter recover 2-2 at Roma as Lautaro answers Koné brace

Inter survived a nightmare start to claim a 2-2 draw at Roma in a top-of-the-table Serie A clash played before the international break. Manu Koné struck twice for Roma, but Lautaro Martínez answered with a brace of his own, leaving both clubs level at the summit. The result exposed two very different structural flaws: Inter's recurring slow starts and Roma's physical ceiling. Roma flew out of the blocks, pressing Inter's build-up phase man-for-man. A sixth-minute defensive error gifted the opener, and when Koné — a central midfielder — arrived unmarked in the six-yard box for the second, Inter's high line and offside trap had already been broken twice. Manuel Akanji's poor line reading was the clearest sign of an unfamiliar centre-back pairing. Inter did not fix their build-up after the break; they removed it. Going long into Lautaro and Thuram, they bypassed Roma's press entirely. Thuram moved centrally, Lautaro dropped deep and ran in behind, and the 47th-minute goal followed that exact pattern. Chivu's adjustment worked, but it was also an admission that the original first-phase plan was unworkable. Roma's collapse had a physical root. Hermoso and Balerdi both left injured, and Malen asked to come off but could not because Roma had exhausted their substitution windows — a harsh application of IFAB Law 3. Three injury requests in one match is a red flag for Gasperini's high-intensity model, which visibly degraded after the hour mark. Svilar's saves kept Roma in the game, but they also masked how often Inter reached the box. The headline framing of an "Inter slip-up" inverts the real momentum. Inter recovered a two-goal deficit away at a direct rival; Roma tossed away a two-goal lead at home and finished physically compromised. With Lazio potentially joining the title race, the international break now becomes a race to heal bodies and fix first halves. Whoever solves their weakness first will hold the advantage when Serie A resumes.