Five out of five as Inter maintain perfect record
Inter Milan made it five wins from five games with a 1-0 victory over Lazio on Wednesday.
ROME (AFP) - Inter Milan made it five wins from five games with a 1-0 victory over Lazio on Wednesday as Antonio Conte s men reclaimed top spot in Serie A.
However, they needed goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, on the occasion of his 300th game for Inter, to pull off a series of fine saves to ensure a win which allowed his team to restore their two-point lead over champions Juventus.
The only goal of the game at the San Siro came in the 23rd minute when Italian international full-back Danilo D Ambrosio headed in from close range off a cross from Cristiano Biraghi.
At the other end, Handanovic made sure that Inter s miserly defensive record this season, which has seen just one goal conceded, remained intact as he denied Felipe Caicedo and Bastos before he thwarted Tucu Correa with a spectacular one-handed save.
Inter summer signing Romelu Lukaku was unable to add to his three goals in four Serie A games having earlier been denied the chance to play against younger brother Jordan who was sidelined with a knee injury.
Lazio, meanwhile, went into the game with Ciro Immobile left on the bench after a touchline row with coach Simone Inzaghi in last week s 2-0 win over Parma.
Duvan Zapata and Marten de Roon scored second-half goals as Atalanta condemned Roma to a first league defeat of the season, dashing England international defender Chris Smalling s hopes of a winning debut.
The win at the Stadio Olimpico allowed Atalanta to climb into third place in the table.
Paulo Fonseca s Roma, meanwhile, are in sixth spot, seven points off Inter Milan s pace.
Atalanta opened the scoring in the 71st minute when Colombian international Zapata, on as a second-half substitute, tucked the ball away from close range.
Dutch midfielder De Roon made sure of the victory with a last-minute, close-range header after Roma goalkeeper Pau Lopez failed to collect a cross.
It was a disappointing night for Smalling as the 31-time capped defender finally made his Roma debut after moving on loan to Italy from Manchester United in the summer.
Napoli lost ground after a 1-0 defeat against Cagliari in Sardinia.
It was a second league defeat of the season for Carlo Ancelotti s side who dominated large parts of Wednesday s match before they were undone by a goal on the counter-attack by Lucas Castro three minutes from the end.
Dries Mertens twice his the woodwork for Napoli whose miserable evening saw Kalidou Koulibaly red-carded in the dying moments for protesting the goal.
Fiorentina moved off the bottom of the table after a 2-1 win over Sampdoria gave them a first win of the campaign.
On Tuesday, Juventus defeated Brescia 2-1 to briefly reclaim top spot.
