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Ludovic Giuly's foolish attempt at being a goalkeeper left Roma with 10 men for over an hour and Inter took full advantage, crushing their title rivals 4-1 and ending their unbeaten record.
Games don't get much bigger than this - a head-to-head Scudetto battle between the joint Serie A leaders. These two clubs had already met once this season, when Daniele De Rossi's goal secured Roma the Italian Super Cup at San Siro. Inter's last trip to the Olimpico was a painful one, losing 6-2 in the first leg of the Coppa Italia Final in May.
Cristian Chivu did not recover from a shoulder injury in time to face his former club, so with Douglas Maicon suspended and Marco Materazzi, Patrick Vieira and Nelson Rivas ruled out, Inter had only four defenders at their disposal. Roberto Mancini surprised by using a trident attack. Rodrigo Taddei was the big absentee for the Giallorossi along with Marco Cassetti and Marco Andreolli.
The home side got off to a blistering start, as within the opening two minutes Julio Cesar had been forced into two tough saves on Francesco Totti's free kick and Amantino Mancini's follow-up from point-blank range.
Philippe Mexes risked giving away a penalty in a tussle with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan scuffed a clearance, but Esteban Cambiasso's left-foot volley was smothered by Alexander Doni in an opening 20 minutes played at breakneck pace.
Just as Inter were pushing up, Roma almost struck on the counter with a classic team move. Totti spread the play for Mancini's low drive from the edge of the box that was fingertipped round the base of the near post.
The game turned after 28 minutes. Inter went on the counter from a sloppy Totti corner kick and Simone Perrotta slipped, letting Cesar through. Doni performed a great one-handed save to deny the former Lazio man, but Ibrahimovic's lob was cleared off the line by Ludovic Giuly's arm. The red card and penalty were inevitable, as Ibrahimovic buried the spot-kick low into the far corner to give the Nerazzurri the lead against 10-man Roma. Giuly's 'save' seemed to be an instinctive motion, but only made a bad situation even worse.
Inter took control and slowed down the tempo, trying to keep possession. Roma still had a chance to equalise as Max Tonetto went past Ivan Cordoba down the left and his assist for Perrotta was closed down with some difficulty by Maxwell.
There was a blow for Inter after the restart when he clashed with Juan and was stretchered off clutching his foot. Julio Cruz and Hernan Crespo replaced Ibra and the injured Olivier Dacourt, who had a muscular problem, returning the team to a classic 4-4-2.
Crespo was offside when he volleyed over from nine yards, but Roma seemed to have regained their confidence over the half-time break and equalised despite being a man down. Totti's pass for David Pizarro was intercepted by Maxwell, but the Brazilian passed it straight to Perrotta for a quick low finish from the penalty spot.
The game sprung back to life and 60 seconds later substitute Cruz gathered a Cesar backheel for his strike to come off the base of the upright.
Inter restored their advantage the moment they raised the tempo again. Doni did well to parry Cambiasso's strike after he combined with Crespo, but the former Chelsea hitman volleyed in the loose ball.
The referee waved away Figo's penalty appeal for a clash with Tonetto, but at the other end Daniele De Rossi's first touch let him down in a very dangerous counter-attack.
Instead, Cruz created a goal out of nothing. He was 20 metres out when he received from Figo and unleashed a sudden left-footed daisy-cutter that caught Doni by surprise at the near post.
Totti 's long-range strike was deflected just past the post and from the resulting corner kick the captain just failed to turn in after a Walter Samuel error. The move continued and Christian Panucci's header was off target.
The Nerazzurri took control and were brimming with confidence. A corner kick was worked down the left and Figo crossed for Ivan Cordoba's free header at the far post.
Luciano Spalletti introduced Cicinho and Mirko Vucinic. But recognising that the Champions League tie with Manchester United is coming up on Tuesday, he also replaced Totti with Mauro Esposito.
Samuel flung himself at Perrotta's powerful finish to turn it over the bar, then The Wall also denied Vucinic inside the area. De Rossi had an effort charged down from six yards after Maxwell's misplaced pass.
There were fresh concerns for Spalletti in stoppages, as Perrotta pulled up with a muscular problem and effectively Roma ended with nine men.
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