It was another impressive weekend for the two in-form Milan clubs, who once again find themselves in the top two in the Serie A table for the time being.
Champions Inter continued their impressive start to the season with a 6-1 battering of Bologna, while AC Milan remained unbeaten to keep rivals Juventus winless through four games – and stuck in the relegation zone.
Elsewhere in the league, Roma perfect start under Jose Mourinho finally came to an end, while Rome rivals Lazio suffered another setback under Maurizio Sarri.
Here are SBOTOP’s key takeaways from the latest round of Serie A fixtures.
Inzaghi’s Inter attack looks like the real deal
Inter Milan’s Serie A 2021 odds of defending their title were not particularly promising after losing the trio of manager Antonio Conte, Romelu Lukaku, and Achraf Hakimi over the summer. But the Nerazzurri are quickly proving their doubters wrong as they’ve begun the season in terrific form.
The champions are back at the top of the table after a convincing 6-1 win over Bologna. The game was over within the first half-hour as Lautaro Martinez, Milan Skriniar, and Nicolo Barella gave Inter a 3-0 first-half lead. Edin Dzeko then bagged a brace in the second half to secure the victory.
Inter have now scored 15 goals in their first four matches, proof that they are not missing Lukaku and Hakimi all that much.
Newcomers Edin Dzeko and wing-backs Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco have made an immediate impact in Inzaghi’s system. Meanwhile, Lautaro and Barella have raised their games to another level to help fill the void left by Lukaku.
Granted, Inter’s early-season schedule has not been all that hard. But it will get significantly tougher in the next few weeks with Fiorentina, Atalanta, Sassuolo, Lazio, and Juventus coming up in their next five games. So as impressive as Inter’s start has been, the next month will be the true test of the Nerazzurri’s title credentials.
Milan show mental strength that Juventus lack
The marquee matchup of the weekend was without a doubt Juventus v Milan, with the Old Lady desperate to get their first league win of the season. The home side made a flying start as they took the lead through Alvaro Morata’s fourth-minute goal and were on the front foot for much of the first half.
But just like in the Champions League against Liverpool, Milan overcame some early adversity and fought back. They eventually equalised through the in-form Ante Rebic and held on for a 1-1 draw.
It is certainly a positive sign that Stefano Pioli’s side has displayed this sort of resilience and mental strength amid setbacks and injury absences. It shows they have learned some lessons from last season, when they steadily fell off after leading the league for the early part of the season.
As for Juventus, that mental strength seems to be lacking from them even with Allegri’s return. That’s now three games in four where they have taken the very early lead but failed to hang on and win, which is very un-Juventus-like.
The return of Euro 2020 star Federico Chiesa will certainly help, but the Old Lady needs to improve on all areas of the pitch in order to get their troubled season back on track.
Honeymoon over for Rome clubs?
After some impressive Serie A 2021 results to start the season under their new managers, the honeymoon period might be over for both Rome clubs, Roma and Lazio.
Roma’s perfect start under Jose Mourinho came to a halt as they lost 3-2 away to Verona. Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini had given the Giallorossi the lead, but the home side battled back in the second half to steal the points.
There were already some warning signs for Roma after they needed a stoppage-time winner to beat Sassuolo, but the Verona match exposed more of the weak spots that must be ironed out if they are to be legitimate top-four contenders this season.
Meanwhile, things are trending in an even more downward trajectory for Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, who were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Cagliari. Ciro Immobile had given the home side the lead, but Cagliari came back to take a 2-1 lead. The Biancocelesti needed a late Danilo Cataldi goal to claim a point.
After two big wins to start the season, Sarri’s side have now gone winless in their last three as they also lost 2-0 to Milan and 1-0 away to Galatasaray in the Europa League.
Lazio do not have an incredibly deep squad after they failed to significantly upgrade in the summer transfer window, so Sarri will have to come up with solutions from within to snap their current skid.
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