It has been a quieter weekend in Serie A with plenty of low-scoring draws, but there still were some excellent performances from a few of the top clubs.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened in Italy’s top-flight on Matchday 2.
Inter Milan dominate Spezia at San Siro
Inter maintained their perfect start to the season with a 3-0 victory against Spezia at the San Siro.
The Nerazzurri were in complete control of the game early on and prevented the visitors from getting a single shot on target in the first half.
Lautaro Martínez and Romelu Lukaku combined for the opener as the Argentine sent a bottom-corner strike past goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski from the edge of the box.
Hakan Çalhanoğlu extended Inter’s lead just seven minutes into the second half to end Spezia’s hopes of a comeback.
Edin Džeko set up Joaquin Correa for the third goal and sealed the victory for Simeone Inzaghi’s side.
Napoli continue to impress with Monza thrashing
Napoli moved to the top of the Serie A table by defeating Serie A newcomers Monza 4-0 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring with a beautiful long-range effort and Victor Osimhen doubled the Partenopei’s lead just before half-time.
Kvaratskhelia completed his brace in the 62nd minute by dribbling through the Monza defence and sending a low shot past goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
The Georgian winger has amassed three goals and an assist in his first two games for Napoli and is leading the Serie A scoring race.
Andrea Petagna found the back of the net against his former side just a few minutes later but his effort was ruled out for a foul and kept Monza goalless.
New signing Min-Jae Kim scored Napoli’s fourth with a towering header as Luciano Spalletti proved that last weekend’s 5-2 victory was no fluke.
Ismaël Bennacer salvages a draw for AC Milan in Bergamo
Despite winning both matches against Atalanta last season, Milan were held to a 1-1 draw by La Dea at the Gewiss Stadium.
Atalanta finished the match with just two shots and lost the possession battle but, unlike Milan, they were clinical with the few chances they made.
Fans were surprised to see that Ruslan Malinovskyi started the game as multiple sources had claimed there was a breakdown in his relationship with Gian Piero Gasperini after yesterday’s press conference.
Ironically, the Ukrainian midfielder scored the opener with an outside-the-box shot that was deflected by centre-back Pierre Kalulu.
The Rossoneri controlled the tempo of the match after falling behind and continued to pressure Atalanta’s goal into the second half.
Even with substitutes and a change in tactics, Stefano Pioli’s side struggled to find an equaliser until the 68th minute.
Ismaël Bennacer, who scored just two goals last season, salvaged a point for Milan through a world-class finish from inside the box.
Juventus play out a goalless draw with Sampdoria
Juventus dropped their first points of the season as they drew Sampdoria 0-0 at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.
Mehdi Léris almost gave Sampdoria an early lead with a one-on-one opportunity but goalkeeper Mattia Perin parried his shot onto the goalpost and out of the net to keep the score level.
Sampdoria failed to get another shot on target in the match as Juventus won the possession battle but failed to beat goalkeeper Emil Audero on several chances.
The Bianconeri thought they had the opener with a strike from Adrien Rabiot in the 65th minute, but the Frenchman’s goal was overruled by VAR for offside on Dušan Vlahović in the build-up play.
Elsewhere around the league
Domenico Berardi arguably scored the goal of the week in Sassuolo’s 1-0 win over Lecce. Giorgos Kyriakopoulos sent in a cross just outside the box and the Neroverdi captain sent a powerful volley into the back of the net to secure three points for his team.
A second-half goal from Chris Smalling was enough to give Roma a 1-0 victory over Cremonese at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Giallorossi had plenty of chances throughout the match but goalkeeper Ionuț Radu made over ten saves to give the visitors a chance of salvaging points. Smalling found the back of the net with a powerful header and helped Roma maintain their perfect start to the season.
