The big ones go all-in. Inter, Atalanta and Lazio win their respective matches against Genoa, Turin and Empoli and thus send a loud and clear message to the whole championship: the fight at the top, never like this year, promises to be fiercely fought. The three successes in question, however, have little in common if not the points, in the light of the very different performances, in the light of an Inter that has literally walked, of a Lazio that conquered Empoli not without suffering, of an Atalanta that snatched the winning ticket only in full recovery. Therefore, an easy victory for Inzaghi's team, who dominated the field from start to finish against a decidedly compliant Genoa. However, the opponent's fragility must not diminish the Nerazzurri's performance, capable of dominating the match from the very first minutes, also thanks to the enthusiasm of an almost full San Siro (due to the possible capacity, of course), not at all demotivated by the farewells of Conte, Hakimi and Lukaku.
Inter thanked them with a splendid performance, favored by Skriniar's balance-breaking goal, which steered the match after just 6'. Not even the time to collect the 1-0 that Genoa conceded the second, this time thanks to a nice shot from distance by Calhanoglu, who also authored the assist on the Slovakian's previous goal (14'). And so the opening match of Serie A almost immediately turned into an exhibition, with the Nerazzurri trying to play, having fun, scoring again. Vidal did it in the 74th minute and Dzeko in the 88th minute, they could have done it again with the Bosnian (also a crossbar for him), Calhanoglu and Perisic (goals disallowed for offside). To tell the truth, Genoa also had its chances, but Kallon and Sabelli proved to have little feeling for the net, allowing Handanovic to end the first season unbeaten. Poker gives serenity to the whole environment, which will now be able to concentrate on the market before facing Verona ahead of next Friday (Correa is back on pole after Thuram's injury, who accused a problem with the collateral ligaments of his knee during the Bundesliga match), but there is no doubt that the exam, although not prohibitive, was passed with flying colours.
“We started in the best possible way in front of our fans who were able to return to the stadium, we couldn't have started better than this – commented Inzaghi with satisfaction -. Calhanoglu is a great player, he combines quality and quantity, he ran a lot but it would be reductive to talk only about him: they all did well. Now a new striker will arrive, possibly one who can score important goals." Also for Maurizio Sarri it was a Saturday night of celebration, albeit with a few more worries than expected. After all, we had already anticipated yesterday how Empoli had all the credentials to create problems, after which the Lazio coach himself had admitted that his team was still far from the best form. The Biancocelesti can therefore rejoice, because these 3 points, in the light of all this, are decidedly important. The game was seen at times and the beautiful offensive plots, which brought the three goals from Milinkovic-Savic (6'), Lazzari (31') and Immobile (41' from a penalty), alternated with various mistakes in defensive phase, so much so that if the Tuscans limited themselves to hitting only Bandinelli (4') it was mainly due to Reina, a splendid save on the line by Luiz Felipe and the crossbar by Castellani.
“I can't want everything right away, but I said I want to get close to perfection – reiterated Sarri -. We are a team under construction and Empoli were a difficult opponent, we were intimidated in the first 20 minutes, then we did well for over an hour. In the final we were again in trouble also because of the weather, in this heat we play a parody of football. However, I am satisfied to have come out with 3 points against a brilliant team”. Gasperini can say the same after having conquered the Turin granata in full recovery, when the draw seemed to be done. Indeed, if there was a team more in the ball it was Juric's Bull, galvanized by Belotti's goal (79') and even close to overtaking with a great shot by Verdi, which came out by a whisker compared to Musso's goal. But Atalanta, as we know, never dies, not even when their legs spin less than usual, weakened by the absence of immovable starters such as Freuler, De Roon, Toloi and Zapata. At the very beginning enhanced by the splendid goal by Muriel (6') a Goddess-style performance did not in fact follow, so much so that the grenades, intimidated and blunt in the first part of the match, took courage along the way, first scaring Musso on several occasions , then hitting him with a mocking lob signed by Belotti and Maehle, whose deflection proved to be decisive.
There, however, Gasperini pulled yet another rabbit out of his infinite cylinder, inserting Roberto Piccoli, last year on loan at Spezia, in place of Gosens: the very young striker, 21 years old in January, ended up deciding the match, taking advantage of a sensational hole left by Toro and beating Milinkovic-Savic for the final 2-1 (93'). “These are three very good points, but I don't think we deserved to win – admitted Gasperini -. It went well for us, it was a difficult game, we were very subdued, they were too dangerous on second balls. They were more reactive and ready than us, now we need to recover some players." Meanwhile, however, the first success of the season is in the bag, just like for Inter and Lazio (and Sassuolo, yesterday's victorious 3-2 in Verona). All teams that today, between one market call and another, will be able to relax on the sofa and watch the competitors without worries.
