Three’s company
Inter and Napoli join Juve on top
MILAN: Napoli and Inter Milan made it three wins out of three to keep pace with six-time title holders Juventus at the top of Serie A as AC Milan fell at Lazio.
Luciano Spalletti’s Inter beat promoted SPAL 2-0 at the San Siro on Sunday after Juventus eased past Chievo 3-0 in Turin on Saturday.
Napoli also remain unbeaten as they warmed up for a midweek Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 3-0 at Bologna with late goals from Jose Callejon (66), Dries Mertens (83), and Piotr Zielinski (88).
“To go 70 minutes and lose 0-3 is heavy for the boys,” said coach Roberto Donadoni of Bologna’s first loss this season.
“Naivety cost us and Napoli punished us. This has to teach us a lesson.”
Juventus – who travel to Barcelona for Champions League duty today – are top of the standings on goal difference, equal on nine points with Napoli and Inter Milan, with Lazio fourth on seven.
Milan dropped to seventh after suffering their first defeat of the season as a Ciro Immobile hattrick lifted Lazio 4-1 at home.
Simone Inzaghi’s side ran riot over the Chinese-owned Milan with an on-fire Immobile scoring three in 10 minutes, including a penalty, in a match delayed for an hour due to torrential rain in the capital.
Riccardo Montolivo pulled one
back for the visitors off a deflected Hakan Calhanoglu free-kick, but Vincenzo Montella’s side fell to their first defeat in three games.
“Not many teams will get four goals past Milan,” said Immobile, who also scored for Italy in a World Cup qualifier last week.
“I think we’re on the right track.” After two easy matches against Crotone and Cagliari, Milan got a reality check against Lazio.
Immobile’s first was from a penalty on 38 minutes, and four minutes later he added a second with a volley off a Senad Lulic cross.
The Italian international then got his third six minutes later and quickly assisted Luis Alberto for the fourth.
Earlier, Inter Milan’s Mauro Icardi added to his Serie A tally with a 27th-minute penalty, giving him a fifth goal of the season.
The spot-kick was awarded after the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR), after Joao Mario was tripped inside the box with Icardi slotting in.
Ivan Perisic sealed the victory after 87 minutes with a powerful volley into the top corner.
“They are valuable points which allow us to consolidate our place and build self-confidence,” said Inter assistant manager Marco Domenichini.
SPAL boss Leonardo Semplici believes Inter under former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti can now challenge Juventus’ dominance.
“Inter will challenge for the Scudetto, but I still have to compliment my boys for their performance. I tip my hat to Luciano Spalletti, who is both a friend and a great coach,” he said.