Inter Milan back on top as Napoli surge while Juventus and AC Milan lose

Inter Milan reclaimed first place in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Venezia, while Napoli reignited their campaign with a 4-1 victory over Monza.

Juventus were beaten 2-0 by Genoa, increasing the pressure on coach Luciano Spalletti, and AC Milan lost their unbeaten league record in a 4-2 defeat by Bologna at San Siro.

Inter leave it late at Venezia

Inter extended their winning run in all competitions to four matches, but needed two deflected goals to overcome a stubborn Venezia side.

The hosts created the better chances during the opening period. Akor Adams headed wide from a promising position before Inter goalkeeper Ivan Provedel made excellent saves to keep out efforts from Adams and Lion Lauberbach. Venezia also had a goal disallowed for offside and struck the crossbar.

Inter finally took the lead when Marcus Thuram sent a low cross into the area and Matias Moreno diverted it into his own net. Carlos Augusto added a second with a header which took a significant deflection off Redouane Halhal.

The result moved Inter back to the summit, while Venezia suffered their ninth defeat in 10 competitive matches and remained in the bottom three.

De Bruyne helps Napoli find form

Napoli ended a frustrating run of results with an emphatic win over Monza to strengthen their push for European qualification.

Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring after Giovanni Di Lorenzo split the Monza defence with a superb pass, allowing the striker to place his finish into the bottom corner.

Monza levelled through Gustavo Varela, who headed in Jay Robinson’s cross after the visitors had earlier threatened Napoli’s goal.

Napoli regained the lead soon after half-time when Matteo Politano took advantage of a defensive error. Politano then delivered the corner from which Rafa Marin headed home, before Kevin De Bruyne completed the scoring by calmly converting Noa Lang’s through ball.

The victory gave Napoli a much-needed lift, while Monza continued what has become their worst-ever start to a Serie A campaign.

Genoa deepen Juventus’ problems

Genoa secured a 2-0 home win over Juventus, extending their impressive run at Stadio Luigi Ferraris and leaving Spalletti under greater pressure.

The hosts went ahead after 12 minutes when Kingsley Ehizibue finished Tommaso Baldanzi’s delivery after the ball took a deflection off Andrea Cambiaso.

Baldanzi doubled Genoa’s advantage before the half-hour mark, with his close-range effort deflecting off Gleison Bremer.

Juventus applied more pressure after the interval but were unable to convert their chances. Bremer headed narrowly over the crossbar, while the visitors lacked the quality required to make their other opportunities count.

The defeat left Juventus eighth before their meeting with Spalletti’s former club Napoli. Genoa moved five points clear of the relegation zone after ending a six-match winless run against Juventus.

Mbangula hat-trick ends Milan’s unbeaten start

Samuel Mbangula scored three times as Bologna produced an impressive performance to beat AC Milan 4-2 and end their unbeaten Serie A start.

Mbangula scored on his first Serie A start, but Milan responded through Alphadjo Cisse after he capitalised on a defensive mistake. Cisse struck again following an excellent cross from Fikayo Tomori to put the hosts ahead.

Bologna drew level after the break when Juan Miranda’s dangerous delivery was turned into his own net by Davide Bartesaghi. Miranda then set up Mbangula to restore Bologna’s lead before the forward completed his hat-trick on the counter-attack.

Milan could not find a response, with Francesco Camarda missing a late opportunity to equalise. The win gave Bologna manager Raffaele Palladino a third successive away victory in Serie A.