Serie A match report Inter Milan v AS Roma 20 April 2019

Inter Milan needed a second-half strike from Ivan Perisic to force a 1-1 draw at home to AS Roma on Saturday evening.   A surprise inclusion from Inter saw Lautaro Martinez preferred ahead of Mauro Icardi, with Cengiz Under and Lorenzo Pellegrini recalled for the Romans.   Roma failed to get a second minute lead after Edin Dzeko shot tamely at Samir Handanovic following a well-worked through ball.   Martinez nearly justified his inclusion with a pin-point header from Matteo Politano's cross, however Antonio Mirante went down to keep out the effort four minutes later.   Roma though drew first blood 14 minutes in after a long-range drive from Stephan El Shaarawy found the bottom corner.   Following the half-hour mark, Under set up El Shaarawy for a second but Handanovic instantly palmed off the danger.   Ten minutes to halftime, Kwadwo Asamoah beat three players from the left before seeing his attempt off the side-netting.   In the 43rd minute, Danilo D'Ambrosio looked to end their scoring woes at home but his header from a corner also found the side-netting.   Earlier in the second half, Inter threw everything in their armoury for a way back but Roma's defence failed to budge.   Luciano Spalletti then called on star striker Icardi 54 minutes in, with Radja Nainggolan sacrificed for the Argentine.   The change worked wonders, as on 61 minutes Ivan Perisic found space at the back post to head home D'Ambrosio' cross.   Roma tried to regain their lead through a long-range shot from outside the area by Pellegrini on 68 minutes, but Handanovic went down to make the save.   A minute before full-time, Aleksandr Kolarov nearly grabbed the winner after running into the area but Handanovic's one-handed save ensured a share of the spoils.