Inter Milan defeated 10-man Roma 1-0 from a Gary Medel effort Saturday, moving one point past the Giallorossi atop the Italian Serie A.
Medel joined Inter from Cardiff City at the start of last season
The Nerazzurri lead on 24 points from 11 games and Roma, on 23, could be leapfrogged also by Napoli and Fiorentina, who play Sunday against Genoa and Frosinone, respectively.
At the Giuseppe Meazza, the Nerazzurri curbed a good start from the Rome guests and struck on 31 with Medel’s low shot that surprised Wojciech Szczesny into the left corner.
Roma’s main striker Edin Dzeko nodded harmlessly on 15 minutes and eight later had a tap-in deflected after Samir Handanovic parried a drive form Douglas Maicon.
Chilean Medel limped off the pitch five minutes into the second half and watched his Slovenian goalkeeper block with his feet from a Mohamed Salah shot and on 61 deflect a drive from Alessandro Florenzi and the following flick by Salah.
The dismissal of Miralem Pjanic weakened Roma’s hopes with 17 minutes as the Bosnian received a second booking for hand-ball.
Marcelo Brozovic forced a tough save from Szczesny and Ivan Perisic failed to finish off a counter-attack as Inter controlled the final stages.
A weekend opener in Turin saw struggling champions Juventus find a last-gasp winning flick from substitute Juan Cuadrado to edge Torino 2-1 in a city derby.
The title holders are 10th as they moved level on 15 points with Sampdoria, who sit ninth on goal difference before tackling Chievo, and Torino.
“We fought until the end and when you work you see the results on the pitch,” Cuadrado said. “It was hard to control a great team like Torino, but I think we deserved the win.”
At the Old Lady’s Stadium, the hosts lost Sami Khedira to a pulled muscle after eight minutes and brought on Cuadrado, who on 19 minutes set up Paul Pogba for a great dropping shot that stunned Daniele Padelli.
Fabio Quagliarella fired wide on Torino’s first telling effort on the half hour and Paulo Dybala also missed as Juve controlled the remainder of the first half.
Torino pressed and levelled six minutes after the interval as Cesare Bovo hit a team-mate who was standing by Juve’s wall and slammed the rebound under the bar.
Maxi Lopez and captain Kamil Glick saw Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon save dangerous headers and turn away a Giuseppe Vives long-range effort, while Juve threatened with a break by Pogba and saw Leonardo Bonucci hit the bar in the closing minute.
A final attack from the Bianconeri saw substitute Alex Sandro square for the close-range winning goal from Cuadrado.
