Serie A - Week 3: Sunday Review

AC Milan picked up their first victory of the season with a 4-1 home success over Lazio who slip from first to third with Inter and Juventus the new leaders in Serie A.

AC MILAN 4-1 LAZIO
Milan won their first game of the Serie A season in some style on Sunday night as they brushed aside Lazio at the San Siro. Milan released all of their frustration at losing their first two league games on a Lazio side who had won both of their opening fixtures. Clarence Seedorf broke the deadlock after eight minutes and while on-loan striker Mauro Zarate equalised after 26 minutes for Lazio, the Rossoneri put their woes firmly behind them with a smart finish from Gianluca Zambrotta before second-half goals from Brazil duo Alexandre Pato and Ricardo Kaka. Lazio showed plenty of the form that had catapulted them to the top, but they were put to the sword by some stunning finishing from Carlo Ancelotti's side.

TORINO 1-3 INTER
Inter moved to the top of the Serie A standings for the first time this season with a comprehensive win on the road at Torino. A Marco Pisano own goal put Jose Mourinho's side ahead after 24 minutes before a stunning strike from full-back Maicon made it 2-0 just moments later. Torino worked hard to get back into the game and were looking good for a goal before Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the result beyond doubt with Inter's third after 51 minutes. Elvis Abbruscato grabbed a consolation goal after 76 minutes, but despite their best efforts, hitting the bar late on, Toro slipped to defeat for the first time this season.

CAGLIARI 0-1 JUVENTUS
A first-half goal from Amauri was enough to earn Juventus their second successive win in Serie A against struggling Cagliari to take them joint top. The Brazilian forward made the breakthrough shortly before the interval to maintain Juve's impressive record against the Sardinians, who have not beaten the Turin club since 1999. It was the second match in succession Amauri had found the target, following the 1-0 victory over Udinese last time out. And the news will be welcomed by Bianconeri coach Claudio Ranieri, who lost striker David Trezeguet to knee surgery earlier this week which is expected to sideline the Frenchman for four months.

FIORENTINA 1-0 BOLOGNA
Fiorentina narrowly edged out Bologna in the Derby dell'Appennino to notch up their first victory of the Serie A season. Alberto Gilardino's headed effort eight minutes before the interval was all that separated the sides at the Stadio Artemio Franchi after both teams hit the woodwork in the first half. The result takes Cesare Prandelli's side up to four points after three games.

PALERMO 2-1 GENOA
Palermo continued their good start to life under new coach Davide Ballardini with victory against Genoa. After a shock win over Roma last week the Sicilian giants were keen to maintain their good form, with Edison Cavani putting his side in the driving seat with the opener in the first half. Defender Cesare Bovo grabbed a second just prior to the hour mark to seal the win. Genoa's returning hero Diego Milito grabbed a consolation goal in the final minute but it was too late to spark a comeback. The win means Palermo keep pace with the early leaders in Serie A despite a poor start to the season when they lost their opener at Udinese, which led to coach Stefano Colantuono's sacking.

UDINESE 0-0 NAPOLI
Udinese were unable to avenge last season's 5-0 thrashing against Napoli despite playing for the final 17 minutes with a man advantage. The north-east club were thrashed in the corresponding fixture last September and highly-rated Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler freely admitted in the build-up that revenge was on the players' minds. But they could not breach the Napoli backline with the visitors defending stoutly, especially following the sending-off of Fabiano Santacroce after the defender picked up two yellow cards.

SAMPDORIA 1-1 CHIEVO
Sampdoria remain without a victory in Serie A this season after being held to a frustrating draw by Chievo at a very wet Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Samp came into the match on the back of a superb 5-0 win over Kaunus in the UEFA Cup and the hosts looked set to continue the winning feeling when Daniele Franceschini netted the opener after 49 minutes. But promoted Chievo had other ideas, and just two minutes later the visitors levelled through Antonio Langella before holding on for a point at the whistle. Samp's second home stalemate this season leaves them flirting with the relegation zone at this early stage, while Chievo's solid return to the top flight sees them with four points after their opening three games.

LECCE 1-1 SIENA
Fabio Caserta stepped off the bench to score his second goal in as many games and grab a home draw for Lecce against Siena. Caserta was relegated to the substitutes' bench despite scoring the opener in Lecce's 2-0 win against Chievo last weekend, and when he was eventually called upon he made an immediate impact to head the equaliser two minutes after coming on in the 56th minute. The 29-year-old's strike cancelled out Daniele Ficagna's opener after 38 minutes, which had been richly deserved for the away side who dominated the first period.

SERIE A REVIEW:
[Saturday 20 Sep] - [Sunday 21 Sep]