Serie A Weekly: Inter, Juventus & Napoli get results, Milan slip up again, Roma stage incredible comeback | OneFootball

Another Serie A weekend packed with drama and stunning results is behind us, with most of the games determined by a single-goal margin.

We walk you through the happenings of the Serie A Matchday 11.

Napoli inflict more pain on basement boys

Salernitana’s agonising start to the new Serie A campaign continued on Saturday as Napoli scored on either side of half-time to win 2-0 at the Stadio Arechi.

Giacomo Raspadori broke the deadlock in the 13th minute with a delightful finish from an acute angle before Elif Elmas’ brilliant solo goal in the 82nd minute sealed the Salerno outfit’s fate.

New manager Filippo Inzaghi has failed to wake up the Campanian minnows since replacing Paulo Sousa at the helm a fortnight ago, with Salernitana finishing this round bottom of the table.

Not only are they the only winless team in Serie A this term, but they’ve also yet to keep a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, Napoli’s faltering Scudetto defence is back on track, courtesy of a three-game unbeaten run (W2, D1), as they now trail pacesetters Inter Milan by seven points.

Inter leave Bergamo stunned in a battle of the Nerazzurri

Buzzing from a well-deserved home win over Roma, Inter headed to the Gewiss Stadium to take on Atalanta, looking to extend a four-game unbeaten league run in Bergamo.

Simone Inzaghi’s side weathered an early storm and took a half-time lead through Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty in the 40th minute despite spending most of the first half on the back foot.

Talismanic forward Lautaro Martinez doubled the visitors’ advantage on the stroke of the hour-mark with another scintillating strike from just inside the box.

Although Atalanta fought back almost momentarily through Gianluca Scamacca, it proved a consolation goal for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side as they relinquished an almost-perfect home record this season (W4, D1).

Udinese off the mark against injury-plagued AC Milan

Udinese upset the apple cart on Saturday night, taking advantage of an injury crisis at Milan to capture an unexpected 1-0 victory at the Stadio San Siro.

Without numerous first-team stars and demoralised after going winless in three competitive matches in the build-up, Stefano Pioli’s lads slumped to another disappointing result.

The critical moment of the game took place in the 62nd minute when Yacine Adli tackled Festy Ebosole down in the box, sending Udinese captain Roberto Pereyra to the spot.

Mike Maignan guessed it wrong, as the Uruguayan midfielder sent him in the opposite direction to get the Friulians into the win column for the first time in the 2023/24 Serie A season.

Lukaku goes from zero to hero as Roma pull off an unthinkable against Lecce

Roma performed a breathtaking injury-time comeback to beat Lecce 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico and recover from last week’s 1-0 heartbreak at Inter.

It should’ve been plain sailing for Jose Mourinho’s troops when they were awarded a fifth-minute penalty, only for Romelu Lukaku to miss his first spot-kick in Serie A after 14 conversions at Inter.

Lukaku’s waste nearly backfired on the Giallorossi when Pontus Almqvist slotted the ball past Rui Patricio to put Lecce in front in the 72nd minute.

When it looked like Robert D’Aversa’s side could be on the verge of ending their six-game losing Serie A streak in Rome, a disaster struck as Roma pulled one back through second-half substitute Sardar Azmoun.

Azmoun’s first-ever goal in Serie A initiated an insane fightback as Lukaku turned his marker and finished with aplomb to complete the turnaround and move Mourinho’s team to seventh.

Miretti’s senior breakthrough fires Juventus past Fiorentina

Fabio Miretti’s first senior goal for Juventus settled a one-sided affair at the Artemio Franchi, propelling Massimiliano Allegri’s side to a gutsy 1-0 triumph.

Despite posting their first Serie A win in Tuscany since December 2018, the record-time Italian champions got away with a highway robbery, with La Viola dominating proceedings through and through.

Vincenzo Italiano’s team boasted 68% ball possession and had 25 attempts on goal but unfathomably failed to find a way past Wojciech Szczesny, who had another great game.

Miretti’s 10th-minute opener was Juventus’ only shot on goal until Andrea Cambiaso’s header in stoppages, yet they somehow made it four consecutive league wins ‘to nil.’

Around the grounds

Thiago Motta’s high-flying Bologna side made it ten Serie A games unbeaten for the first time in the 21st century with a hard-earned 1-0 home triumph over Lazio last Friday.

Lewis Ferguson’s strike at the start of the second half lifted the Rossoblu to sixth in the standings, leaving Maurizio Sarri’s underachievers stranded in mid-table.

Milan loanee Lorenzo Colombo netted a match-winning brace to inspire Monza to a 3-1 away victory over out-of-sorts Hellas Verona on Sunday afternoon, extending their hosts’ dreadful winless run in Serie A to nine matches (D2, L7).

Fresh off their first league win on their Serie A return over Frosinone, Cagliari defeated fellow promoted rivals Genoa 2-1 at home.

The Canaries bounced back with an identical home win over relegation-threatened Empoli, while Torino maintained their mini-revival by running out 2-1 victors over Sassuolo on Monday.

Player of the Week

In a weekend of upsets and low-scoring fixtures, Monza starlet Colombo was a breath of fresh air.

The 21-year-old striker opened the scoring with a top-class chip over the keeper towards the end of the first half before hammering home a thunderous shot from the edge of the box to put the game to bed.

Before Sunday, Colombo had just one Serie A goal to his name in the Monza shirt. His performance at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi showed Milan might have made a mistake by loaning him out, only to end up with underperforming Luka Jovic as a back-up striker.

Looking ahead

Milan’s next chance to return to winning ways in Serie A takes them to Via del Mare for a must-win game against Lecce, while their neighbours Inter play Frosinone at home.

Juventus’ final league game before the international break brings a resurgent Cagliari side to the Allianz Stadium.

But all eyes will be on the Stadio Olimpico as eternal rivals Lazio and Roma go head-to-head in the highly anticipated Derby della Capitale.

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