Smalling Absolutely Dominated Lukaku During Roma vs Inter

Inter Milan hosted AS Roma this weekend as former teammates Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku went head-to-head.

The Nerazzurri headed into the fixture hoping to claim a lead on the Serie A table as Juventus keep breathing down their necks. But Roma forced the hosts to settle for a stalemate and ultimately shared the spoils at the end of the day.

One of the biggest talking points about the game was Lukaku going up against Smalling for the very first time since the pair departed Old Trafford. The former United stars brought in attention from the Red Devils fans as well, as the the match brought intrigue with it.

However, there was only one clear winner at the end of the day and that was the defender. The Belgian put up a disappointing shift last night and failed to make any big impact for Inter. The striker had a meagre one shot on target whilst also missing a clear cut chance, having only 11 accurate passes and losing possession 8 times in 90 minutes.

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On the other hand, the Englishman put up a Man of the Match performance, recording 3 clearances and interceptions, 1 block, 6 out of 9 duels won and having been dribbled past a total of zero times.

Naturally fans on twitter had vivid reactions to the clash of the former Red Devils, especially how the centre-back unexpectedly nullified the in-form Belgian international.

So good to see Chris Smalling thriving in Italy. Change of scenery doing him a world of good. #mufc

— United Xtra (@utdxtra) December 6, 2019

https://twitter.com/StatmanDave/status/1203072357314772998

https://twitter.com/NotyRowsha/status/1203267597879431168

https://twitter.com/allutdinfo/status/1203303765522042880

https://twitter.com/Ian_Cox_101/status/1203068515483185153

Chris Smalling hasn’t appeared for England since June 2017 & his international career appeared dead under Gareth Southgate… but his impressive form on loan at Roma saw the Three Lions boss & assistant Steve Holland travel to Italy to see the defender against Inter Milan #MUFC

— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) December 6, 2019

 

The Milan giants now sit 2 points above the defending champions, who have a game in hand, and 9 points above the Rome outfit.

Seems like Antonio Conte has rejuvenated the San Siro side and Juve could really have a tight battle for the Serie A title this time around.