There was a sense of familiarity in Rome this weekend as the Stadio Olimpico witnessed the arrival of Inter. The home crowd jeered Luciano Spalletti upon his return, just as they had in his last game in charge of their club and they then sang Francesco Totti’s name as he looked on from the stands. Inter suffered a sucker punch early on and the game suddenly felt like something the fans had seen before. By the end of the day however, it was the away side who were leaving the field victorious, after another show of ruthless resilience.

 

When Edin Dzeko scored for Roma after only 15 minutes, the Nerazzurri faithful could have been forgiven in thinking their opening win against Fiorentina was yet another false dawn. Even so Inter had played with some zip to their game and never looked off the pace, despite Roma frequenting themselves with the post on more than one occasion. With under 30 minutes of the game to go Mauro Icardi netted his third and fourth goal in two games (the first time he has done this since 2014), before Matias Vecino put the away side clear, much to the astonishment of the home side.

 

Whilst Inter had been far from perfect, the result felt much more emphatic than it was. The truth was that both teams had played some excellent football at times, admittedly this was with intermittent acts of suicide, that could have seen the score end 3-3 just as easily. Looking back on the game however, Inter can be pleased with their attacking display and not only in reference to Icardi; both Ivan Perisic (twice) and Antonio Candreva assisted the two goal scorers and especially after Joao Mario arrived on the pitch, they looked devastating. 

 

With Candreva and Perisic on either side of Icardi and Joao Mario behind, at times they look much more like Roma than the home team themselves. Last season the Giallorossi moved the ball from one end of the field to the other with devastating effect but with Diego Perotti and Gregoire Defrel on either side of Dzeko they looked slower and more timid, although Perotti (as he often does) had his moments. The more time Spalletti has had at Inter, the more direct they have become. Take Icardi’s second goal for instance. The ball went from Handanovic to Miranda to Vecino to Perisic, he crossed for Icardi to score and the whole process took only 18 seconds.

 

This goal was similar to the first where Icardi found himself in the box to ruthlessly hit home from close range, it is a skill he has turned into an art form, it is the fatal blow after beautiful sword play.  Inter certainly have managed to find a way to unlock their main man and whilst he has not been scoring goals in the manner of Andrea Belotti this weekend (certainly worth a look), he simply gets the job done. This assassin of the 18-yard box, has for so long, prowled it alone but as Spalletti unlocked Dzeko last season, it looks like he has now freed his Argentine.

 

Inter certainly still have work to do and defensively they still need to add depth, the potential loan signing of Shkodran Mustafi may address this. Spalletti himself admitted Roma had been unlucky in the game but the cold facts are that when their chances came they couldn’t put them away whilst Inter were clinical when it mattered. The start of the season offered up two potentially tough fixtures but whilst both Fiorentina and Roma were below par, the Nerazzurri had to take advantage and six goals in two games showed that they did.

 

Spalletti’s men now have some favourable fixtures on the horizon, SPAL, Crotone, Bologna, Genoa and Benevento all face the Nerazzurri before they play the Derby Della Madonnina in October. They have no European competition to concern them and have time to rest between games. If the team can keep their flying wingers fit and if Icardi can continue his rich vein of form then there is the potential for Inter to fly into Derby weekend in a position they will not have held in a while. These are early days it’s true but the Spalletti effect is applying a direct effect that’s irresistible to watch.