AC Milan upset sees Inter able to snatch Serie A lead

Spezia players swarm Ibrahimovic

   MILAN - In the latest round of Series A fixtures, AC Milan’s 2-0 defeat to Spezia on Saturday gave Inter the chance to steal their place at the top of the table, which they did with a 3-1 victory over Lazio.

  The newly promoted Spezia, currently sitting 13th in the league, beat the league leaders with a dominant display which saw Milan register zero shots on target, to Spezia’s five. It was only Milan’s third league defeat this season - however these three losses have all come in their last seven matches, as they have seen their strong lead slowly slip away.

  Goals for Spezia, who were recently purchased by the U.S. investor Robert Platek, came from Giulio Maggiore and Simone Bastoni. Milan saw two free kicks hit the wall and a third headed wide in stoppage time, but otherwise never really threatened Spezia’s goal.

  On Sunday, their neighbours Inter beat Lazio 3-1 to take the series lead. Two goals for Romelu Lukaku equalled Ronaldo’s tally of 16 goals so far this season, with the Belgian also assisting Lautaro Martinez for Inter’s third goal. Lazio, however, did play very well, seeing a majority of the possession and attacking threats, and were unlucky on quite a few occasions not to capitalise on the pressure. 

  The two Milan teams will face each other on Sunday in what will no doubt be an important game for both teams, and possible a title decider, though we are only just past the halfway mark of the season. AC Milan won their previous league match, though Inter saw victory in their Coppa Italia clash in January.

  In Rome on Sunday, Roma managed a 3-0 victory over the 14th place Udinese. An early goal for Jordan Veretout was followed by a penalty in the 25th minute, also converted by the Frenchman, with the Spaniard Pedro sealing the victory with a goal in the 93rd minute.

  Elsewhere over the weekend, there was a 1-0 victory for Napoli over Juventus, thanks to Lorenzo Insigne penalty, and a 1-0 victory for Atalanta at Cagliari, thanks to a goal from the Colombian Luis Muriel. Napoli and Atalanta are now just two points behind Juventus in fourth. 

  The battle for Champions League and Europa League places is incredibly close, with only three points separating Roma in third and their rivals Lazio in seventh.

 

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Lukaku scores a penalty