MILAN, Sept 20 — Talking points from the weekend’s Serie A matches.
No Lukaku, no problem for Inter
When last term’s MVP in Serie A — the league award for the best player of the season — Romelu Lukaku left for English Premier League side Chelsea, many Inter Milan fans feared the champions’ attacking threat would be diminished.
But it has been no Lukaku, no problem for Inter in Serie A, with their 6-1 demolition of Bologna on Saturday taking them to 15 strikes from four games this campaign.
Lukaku’s replacement Edin Dzeko helped himself to a double in the San Siro to ensure Inter have now scored at least four goals in each of their last three home league matches — their best such run since 1999.
“Tonight we had a great match, every single player was amazing,” coach Simone Inzaghi said.
Jose bubble bursts in surprising fashion
Jose Mourinho’s return to Italy could not have gone more perfectly ahead of his AS Roma side’s trip to Hellas Verona yesterday.
Roma’s 5-1 Europa Conference League victory over CSKA Sofia last week meant it was six wins from six in all competitions for Mourinho since taking charge in the Italian capital, with the Portuguese coach widely expected to add a seventh against a Verona side yet to win a point.
But in a thrilling contest that swung this way and that, Marco Faraoni’s stunning volley snatched Verona a surprise 3-2 win, a success that even left Mourinho a little bewildered.
“We didn’t play very well, we didn’t adapt well to their way of playing.” Mourinho told DAZN. “We lost many individual duels. I need the videos, I need a few hours to better understand what happened.”
Milan are serious title contenders again
It has been a long time coming but, finally, AC Milan appear to be serious title contenders again.
Trailing 1-0 at Juventus yesterday, an injury-hit Milan looked second best well into the second half, hanging on as Massimiliano Allegri’s side pressed for a second.
But Milan dug in, earned a 1-1 draw to preserve their unbeaten record so far this season, and could have snatched victory at the death.
“We played good football. We conceded a goal where we made too many naive mistakes, which allowed Juve to defend deep and counter in the first half,” coach Stefano Pioli said.
“As always, Milan do not lack desire, character, determination and grit, so we continued seeking the victory throughout the match.” — Reuters
