With four victories and 12 points after their first four games, Inter Milan is in first place, two points ahead of Juventus, who won the day’s first game 3-1 over Lazio.
Inter Milan opened their Serie A top campaign alone after defeating AC Milan 5-1 in the derby on Saturday, while champions Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw by newly promoted Genoa.
Inter is in first place with 12 points after four victories in their first four games, two points ahead of Juventus, who won the day’s first game 3-1 over Lazio.
Inter Milan sits a point behind in third place on Tuesday before hosting Newcastle United in the Champions League following their first humiliating loss of the year.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice, Marcos Thuram scored, Hakan Calhanoglu scored, and David Fratesi added a late goal as Inter continued to dominate with a fifth straight derby victory.
The club of Simone Inzaghi put on a display that demonstrated why they advanced to the Champions League final last year and solidified their position as early favorites to unseat their regional rivals and win the 20th Scudetto.
“We’ve had a fantastic start to the season, and we want to keep it going,” Mkhitaryan said to DAZN.
We are all working for the same objective, so I don’t care who plays; the coach will select players who will give their all for the team.
Even without Mkhitaryan’s fifth-minute goal, Thuram continued his remarkable start in an Inter jersey, which was a key component of the new opener.
Following a few minutes of play, French striker Thuram, who had been fed by an Armenian midfielder, left Malik Thiaw in his wake and smashed a shot into the top corner.
Seven minutes before halftime, Thuram rearranged Inter’s lineup, and Lautaro Martinez then initiated a lightning breakaway. Thiaw, who was defenseless inside, then recovered from an unavoidable shot from the edge of the box before being struck by Denzel Dumfries.
The game was over and seemed over with 45 minutes left when Rafael Leao scored a wonderful goal after Oliver Giroud had set him up, cutting the lead in half and advancing Milan to second place in the season for the second time.
Inter Milan’s first acknowledged goal of the session came from Leao’s late finish, and Mkhitaryan quietly contributed Milan’s resolute “away” support with his dispossessed second with Martnez as soon as Sain Siro was hit by a torrential downpour.
After scoring twice in Italy on Tuesday, Fratesi’s perfect stoppage-time finish and Calhanoglu’s 79th-minute penalty added salt to Milan and coach Stefano Pioli’s wounds.
We don’t need to apologize to our fans, in my opinion. Did you really believe we were going to hand Inter five goals? According to Pioli, who has already lost each Milan derby in 2023 12-1 overall.
“We are disappointed, but you apologize when you purposefully don’t do anything,”
The champions of Napoli battled to defend their championship in Genoa, where they rallied late to get a point despite falling down by two goals.
Prior to the interval, Lazio’s defeat against Rudi Garcia’s squad, which was denied in a draw at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, put Inter five points adrift. Giacomo Raspadori and Matteo Politano of Italy’s national team made an attack in the final 15 minutes.
“We have work to do,” Politano said to Sky Sport in Italy, “but we had very little time to prepare for this match because many players only returned yesterday (from international duty).”
Mattia Bani gave Genoa the lead with five minutes remaining until halftime, but Kevin Strootman tied the score for Italy five minutes later with an outstanding effort from outside the box.
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Raspadori has scored twice since signing a contract with Boca Juniors in July, and his goal on Saturday might give Genoa its second victory of the season.
Raspadori’s goal in the 76th minute, though, gave Napoli hope that they would still have a chance.
Six minutes before the end, Politano rescued Napoli by scoring a spectacular volley off Piotr Zielinski’s long ball to secure a draw for Napoli.