Inter moved to the top of Serie A with a 2-0 home win against Lazio on Sunday, sealed by goals from Lautaro MartÃnez early in the first half and Ange-Yoan Bonny after the interval. The result lifted Inter to the summit, level on 24 points with second placed Roma. Behind them are Milan and Napoli, both with 22 points while Bologna are fifth with 21.
It took three minutes for MartÃnez to give Inter the lead, receiving the ball inside the box, the captain angled it with the outside of his foot into the far corner. Inter doubled their lead and sent the home crowd into a frenzy in the 62nd minute. Federico Dimarco’s low ball across the face of goal found Bonny free at the back post, leaving him with a simple tap-in.
It could have been three when Piotr Zielinski found the net shortly after, but his effort was ruled out for a Dimarco handball in the build-up. Lazio pushed to get back in the contest, with Mario Gila directing a header onto the underside of the bar, but Inter keeper Yann Sommer reacted quickly to gather the ball before it crossed the line.
Roma enjoyed a 2-0 home win against Udinese, thanks to goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Zeki Celik.
After a mostly even contest, Roma gained the advantage three minutes before the break when Udinese’s Hassane Kamara handled the ball inside the box, allowing Pellegrini to convert from the spot. Celik doubled the hosts’ lead in the 61st minute. Having first played Gianluca Mancini into space inside the box, Celik received the return pass and finished calmly.
Udinese pushed to find a way back into the match, with Vakoun Bayo rising to meet a cross with a firm header that forced Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar to stretch and tip it away. Just before full-time, Arthur Atta went close to reducing the deficit, but his strike hit the woodwork and bounced out.
Napoli suffered a 2-0 defeat at Bologna on Sunday, with goals from Thijs Dallinga and Jhon Lucumà keeping the Serie A title race wide open.
Bologna faced an early setback when their goalkeeper, Lukasz Skorupski, appeared to suffer a leg injury in the opening stages, leading to the 17-year-old Massimo Pessina making his Serie A debut. But the hosts broke the deadlock five minutes after half-time when Dallinga met a low pass from the byline and, with the outside of his foot, steered it inside the near post from close range.
Lucumà doubled Bologna’s lead in the 66th minute, rising to head in a cross from inside the area. Napoli attempted a comeback, Noa Lang’s effort striking the upright minutes later, but Bologna kept their opponents at bay and closed out the match with ease.
Meanwhile, in La Liga, Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw at Rayo Vallecano as the hosts became the first team to keep a clean sheet in the league against the table toppers this season.
Kylian Mbappé lets his frustration show at the Estadio de Vallecas. Photograph: Oscar J Barroso/AFP7/Shutterstock
The result moved Xabi Alonso’s side to 31 points from 12 games, opening the door for Barcelona to cut their lead to three points when they play Celta Vigo later on. Rayo are 12th on 15 points.
Augusto Batalla, the Rayo keeper, was the standout player of the match. The Argentinian made several saves to deny the visitors, while the home side defended resolutely to keep their clean sheet.
Kylian Mbappé, who has netted 13 goals to top La Liga’s scoring chart, had a quiet afternoon. The Frenchman was restricted to just one shot as Madrid failed to win at the Estadio de Vallecas for the fourth season in a row.
