Roma vs Inter Milan. Italian Serie A.
OlimpicoAttendance41,009.
Sunday 2 December 2018 21:36, UK
Aleksandr Kolarov's VAR penalty earned Roma a 2-2 draw at home to Inter Milan in Serie A on Sunday night.
Barely a minute after Roma were controversially denied a penalty, Inter countered and took the lead when Keita Balde stabbed in Danilo D'Ambrosio's cross (37).
Cengiz Under's rocket from distance levelled the game (51), but an unmarked Mauro Icardi soon headed Inter back in front (66).
However, Kolarov levelled from the spot (74) after Marcelo Brozovic was deemed to have handled the ball when the decision went to a VAR review.
The draw moves Inter up to second but still 10 points behind leaders Juventus, while Roma move up to seventh - five points behind fourth-placed AC Milan.
After an open start to the game, Roma captain Alessandro Florenzi went closest in the opening half-hour when striking against the post following Patrik Schick's clever cut-back.
A contentious incident followed when Roma's Nicolo Zaniolo went down inside the box. The referee awarded a free-kick the other way, and VAR did not intervene despite D'Ambrosio appearing to bring the midfielder down.
To make matters worse for Roma, D'Ambrosio then went down the other end and put in an inch-perfect cross for Balde to turn home.
Samir Handanovic tipped away Kolarov's free-kick to preserve Inter's lead, but that only lasted for six minutes after the break.
From nothing, Under tried his luck 30 yards out, and the effort arrowed into the near corner of the goal, with Handanovic left stunned and unmoved.
Inter regained the lead through Icardi, who headed in from Brozovic's corner, but a VAR penalty - when Brozovic involuntarily moved his arm towards the ball - saw the match end in a draw, with Kolarov's low strike evading Handanovic as he dived to his left. Inter boss Luciano Spalletti was sent to the stands late on against his former side for protesting a decision.
There was little between the two sides at the Stadio Olimpico, but Roma captain Florenzi led his side valiantly to a draw despite trailing twice, and in the absence of a number of key players too.
Inter head to leaders Juventus for a mouth-watering clash on Friday night, while Roma head to Cagliari on Saturday.
