(Football news) AC Milan climbed to the top of Serie A table with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Salernitana. In the first half, Kessie guided a finish into the bottom corner after a fine run from Rafael Leao five minutes into time, then Alexis Saelemaekers struck after 18 minutes to give the Rossenari a comfortable lead. The Belgian Saelemaekers showed his support for injured teammate Simon Kjaer as he is ruled out for six months after knee surgery, by running to the bench and lifting Kjaer’s shirt to celebrate his goal. In the second half, although Milan had plenty of opportunities to score, they held out for a victory which put them above Napoli in first place since 2010-11 and this victory means they have won 12 of 16 league games this season. This result means that Milan have taken 38 points in their first 16 Serie A matches of the current campaign which is their best record since 2003/04 at this stage of the season.
“We need to forge our own path and play with this determination. It is not about sending messages to the other teams, we only have to put pressure on ourselves. When we play under pressure, we do better. We aren’t looking too far ahead." Milan defender Alessandro Florenzi
Napoli lost their second game of the season as they surrendered a lead to lose 3-2 at home to Atalanta, dropping from first to third in the process. In the first half Ruslan Malinovskyi blasted a shot into the top corner to put Atalanta in front after seven minutes but at the 40th minute mark Piotr Zielinski fired home an equaliser after a pulsating half of football. In the second half, Dries Mertens then broke the offside trap and tucked in an easy finish for his fifth goal in four league games but Atalanta responded superbly as Merih Demiral raced onto a through ball from captain Toloi to smash home an equaliser in the 66th minute and the final nail in the coffin was when Remo Freuler found bottom corner five minutes later after some brilliant interchange with Illic.
The result saw Napoli, who were the title race leader since matchweek 4, remain on 36 points, two points behind new leaders AC Milan, one behind Inter Milan and two ahead of fourth-placed Atalanta.
Inter continued their recent uprise in form after a 3-0 comprehensive victory over AS Roma as the defending champions climbed to second in Serie A and inflicted a fourth defeat in six league games on Jose Mourinho’s Roma. Inter dominated the first half as Hakan Calhanoglu struck the first goal directly from a corner after 15 minutes before Edin Dzeko doubled the lead nine minutes later against his former team after Calhanoglu turned provider by squaring the ball to him. Denzel Dumfries then headed home a deserved third for the Nerazzurri six minutes before the break as Inter went onto win their fourth consecutive league win. This result means that Inter climbed to second with 37 points as AS Roma slipped to 7th with 25 points.
"Inter are stronger than us in normal circumstances, in these circumstances they are much stronger, Today between injuries and suspensions it was a very limited selection. Our attacking potential was practically zero, we had three chances and didn't score. When you play with a new defensive system you can't concede goals like the first and third." Mourinho said after the match.
"I always try it at the front post, and it went in. There was a bit of luck, but I'm happy to have scored. Today we dominated, we didn't give anything away. It was a great game." Hakan Calhanoglu after the match
Juventus have found some form as they beat Genoa 2-0 as Allegri became the second manager in the three points for a win era to reach 250 league victories after Carlo Ancelotti on 275 victories. Juve’s Juan Cuadrado struck a high, inswinging delivery as he scored an olympic goal after eight minutes to put the Old Lady in front in unorthodox fashion, as Paulo Dybala late on fired a low shot to the left corner to seal all three points. With this result Juve moved to 27 points in fifth, seven behind Atalanta in fourth.
The other results were:
- Bologna 2 (Barrow, Hickey) – 3 Fiorentina (Maleh, Biraghi, Vlahovic)
- Sampdoria 1 (Gabbiadini) – 3 Lazio (Milinkovic Savic, Immobile x2)
- Venezia 3 (Ceccaroni,Crnigoj, Henry) – 4 Verona (Henry(og), Caprari(pen), Simone x2)
- Spezia 2 (Manaj, Gyasi) – 2 Sassuolo ( Raspadori x2)
