ROME – Inter Milan slumped to their first defeat of the season as Spanish duo Luis Alberto and Pedro Rodriguez struck late to guide Lazio to a 3-1 win which takes the Roman club to the top of Italian Serie A.
It marked another disappointing evening for Inter manager Simone Inzaghi who has yet to pick up a point at the ground he graced as a player for over a decade and where he managed until 2021.
The former Italy striker, instead, had to play second fiddle, as he did last year when Inter were handed another 3-1 defeat, to Maurizio Sarri, the man who replaced him on the Lazio bench.
“It was a very bad loss,” Inzaghi told DAZN according to AFP. “It was an even game. We had a good first half but Luis Alberto’s goal shifted the balance.”
Sarri brought on Luis Alberto and Pedro just before the hour mark, shortly after Inter’s Lautaro Martinez had cancelled out Felipe Anderson’s 40th minute opener.
Luis Alberto restored the Lazio advantage in the 75th minute with a superb shot which left Samir Handanovic stranded in the Inter goal before Pedro wrapped things up four minutes from time.
“This victory is important for us, it’s the path we need to follow to progress,” said Pedro.
With two wins and a draw in three matches, Lazio take over top spot in the table, one point ahead of Inter, who won their first two matches.
In other game, promoted Monza slipped to their third defeat of the season when they lost 2-1 at home to Udinese who collected their first win.
Monza was bought by former Italian premier and ex-AC Milan owner Berlusconi in 2017 and reached the top-flight for the first time in its 110-year history by winning the Serie B playoff last season.
However, it has lost its first three Serie A matches.
Udinese’s comeback was complete 13 minutes from time with a move started and finished by Destiny Udogie.
Isaac Success collected Udogie´s throw-in and passed back to the on-loan Tottenham forward, who played a swift one-two with Ilija Nestorovski before firing in the winner.
Juventus has signed Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille on loan with an option to buy for seven million euros it was announced.
The Italian club will pay Marseille €900 000 for the season which could rise to €1.7 million depending on certain goals being achieved.
Milik will get a chance to cross swords with Marseille’s great rivals Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League as Juventus were drawn in the same group.
He has plenty of Champions League experience, making 19 appearances and scoring eight goals.
He will partner young Serb Dusan Vlahovic up front and replaces Spain’s Alvaro Morata, whose loan from Atletico Madrid came to an end.
Milik is no stranger to Serie A having played for Napoli for four-and-a-half seasons and scored 38 goals in 93 appearances before joining Marseille in January 2021.
His time at Napoli was marred by two serious knee injuries and being omitted from the squad for the final six months of his spell there due to refusing to sign a new contract.
Milik delivered on the pitch for Marseille scoring 20 goals in all competitions last term but his relations with then manager Jorge Sampaoli were strained.
“Thank you for the welcome, thank you for the amazing fans, thank you for the beautiful city,” Milik said on social media.
“Thank you for the team and the goals and emotions and results,” he added.
The departure of Sampaoli and the arrival of Croatian Igor Tudor as manager was not enough to persuade him to stay at the club even though they too have Champions League football to look forward to.
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