LAUTARO MARTINEZ RODE to Inter Milan’s rescue on Saturday as the Serie A champions fought back from two-down to force a 2-2 draw at Roma.
With both sides holding perfect records heading into the top-two clash in the capital, it was an early-season glimpse of what may well be the Scudetto race this term.
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Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma have arguably been the most impressive team in Italy so far this season, with Donyell Malen’s free-scoring form and a miserly defence giving them four wins from four.
Manu Kone’s double had given Roma a 2-0 lead at half-time but for the second time in a week Cristian Chivu’s side, inspired by Martinez’s brace, showed mettle as the champions fought back from such a deficit.
“There is a lot of positivity in this side, both teams could’ve won it,” Gasperini told DAZN.
“I think we played on level terms… This match must give us confidence going forward.”
Following the announcement earlier in the day of the death of Sandro Mazzola at the age of 83, both sides paid homage to the former Inter Milan and Italy playmaker before kick-off, with the Nerazzurri also sporting black armbands.
Roma raced out of the blocks as Kone sent them ahead with less than six minutes on the clock when he readjusted his body well to rifle home Nahuel Molina’s knockdown.
It was the France midfielder’s first goal of the season as Inter again made a sluggish start that will worry coach Cristian Chivu.
The champions had also bounced back from being 2-0 down inside the opening 16 minutes at home to Udinese to emerge 5-3 winners on Monday.
But Inter were not at the races for most of the opening period at the Stadio Olimpico as Paulo Dybala twice threatened to double the hosts’ advantage.
France forward Marcus Thuram had a golden opportunity to get Chivu’s men level in the 26th minute but could only fire straight at Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
A clever Curtis Jones pass then presented Alessandro Bastoni with a chance at goal seven minutes later, but the Italy defender thrashed the ball against the post from a tight angle.
However, just as Inter slowly seemed to be waking up, Kone had the ball in the net again when he tucked in from close range at the back post on 37 minutes.
His celebrations were initially cut short by the assistant’s flag before VAR intervened and, after a lengthy review, referee Davide Massa pointed to the centre circle as the 25-year-old skipped off in delight after notching the sixth Serie A goal of his career.
- Inter awaken -
Former Inter defender Chivu delivered some choice words to his charges at half-time, which will “remain between the players and me”, the Romanian said.
“I will focus on the second half, which in terms of attitude, grit and character was remarkable,” Chivu added. “We were up against a great opponent, we know what Roma represent, and it was an entertaining match.”
Inter captain Martinez halved the deficit less than a minute after the interval with a scuffed finish from Thuram’s pull-back that just crept perfectly into the side netting of Svilar’s far post.
Dutch forward Malen came within a forehead’s breadth of adding to his tally of six goals in the 68th minute with a slick touch and turn in a crowded box, only for his venomous strike to cannon to safety off Inter stopper Josep Martinez’s brow.
Just as the match appeared to be petering out in the final 10 minutes, a sudden goalmouth scramble saw Svilar make a sharp save before Martinez headed onto the bar under pressure.
Inter, however, managed to recycle the ball, and it came back to the Argentine international inside the box, and this time he made no mistake as he controlled with his thigh and arrowed a finish past the Serb to ensure the spoils were shared.
Elsewhere, third-placed Cagliari climbed to 12 points courtesy of a 1-0 win at Udinese, for whom Ireland international James Abankwah completed 90 minutes.
Bologna and Torino played out a 1-1 draw in Emilia-Romagna.
Lazio joined their city rivals Roma and Inter on 13 points after beating bottom-side Venezia, who remain pointless, 2-0.
A 51st-minute Mattia Zaccagni penalty, coupled with a Tijjani Noslin goal on the hour, was enough to earn Gennaro Gattuso’s team a fourth win from five outings.
Barcelona's Raphinha walks off the pitch with the match ball. Alamy Stock Photo
Raphinha scored a superb hat-trick to earn Barcelona a 3-1 win at Sevilla on Saturday in La Liga and preserve their 100% record.
Hansi Flick’s side moved six points clear of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who visit Atletico Madrid in a derby clash on Sunday.
The Spanish champions were given the biggest test of their season to date but overcame Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán thanks to ex-Leeds United player Raphinha’s treble.
The Brazil international has started the season in sensational form, playing out of position as a central striker.
La Liga’s top goalscorer, Raphinha, reached 12 goals in seven league appearances with a second consecutive hat-trick.
“We know the quality of Raphinha, and we’re very happy about him; he gives us a lot,” Flick told reporters.
“Today the team gives him the last pass, and he made it happen for us, so it’s good.
“After these numbers in these eight games, he’s very happy to play as a number nine.”
“(Raphinha) had never played as a centre-forward, but the truth is he’s having a great start to the season with great numbers, and I hope he keeps on scoring goals like this,” Barca midfielder Fermin Lopez told Movistar.
“He’s very good and can adapt to any position up front. We give him the balls, and he scores the goals.”
Barcelona sporting director Deco said the former Leeds winger had agreed to extend his stay at the club until 2030 ahead of the game, and Raphinha celebrated in style.
Flick handed Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic his debut in goal with Joan Garcia out injured.
Hosts Sevilla, fifth, started strongly, making Barca uncomfortable, and took the lead through Youssouf Fofana in the 19th minute.
Felix Correia escaped Eric Garcia and crossed for Fofana to nod home at the near post.
Teenage star Lamine Yamal almost pulled Barca level, but Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos managed to push his curling effort against the post and out.
It was no surprise when the Catalans did equalise that it was Raphinha who was the man to score.
He cleverly shifted his body weight to escape a defender and slipped the ball home with a low finish.
- Relentless Raphinha -
Yamal sent another shot over, and after Sevilla fans whistled him, he goaded them to keep doing so.
Although the 19-year-old did not score himself, he did create Raphinha’s next two goals.
Early in the second half, Yamal crossed, and Raphinha headed home to put Barca in front.
Arguably his best finish was yet to come, with Yamal sending Raphinha through, for the Brazilian to dink the ball over the goalkeeper. It was his 14th of the season between La Liga and the Champions League.
Barca missed several chances to extend their lead, with Anthony Gordon getting his feet wrong and a Dani Olmo free-kick beaten away.
Nevertheless, Barca claimed an eighth win from eight games across all competitions this season, as they continue setting the pace in the Spanish top flight.
Sevilla fell to a second defeat of the season but left with their confidence intact after challenging Barca.
“We knew we were facing a tremendous opponent, one of the teams playing the best football in the world,” Sevilla captain Gabriel Suazo told Movistar.
“We lacked energy in the second half, but we competed until the end. We leave with our heads held high, having shown a good attitude.”
Elsewhere, Celta Vigo thrashed Racing Santander 5-0, Athletic Bilbao and Alaves drew 0-0, and Osasuna were held 1-1 by Rayo Vallecano.
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Inter rescue draw in top-two clash, ex-Leeds star on fire in La Liga
Updated at 22.30
Serie A results:
La Liga results:
LAUTARO MARTINEZ RODE to Inter Milan’s rescue on Saturday as the Serie A champions fought back from two-down to force a 2-2 draw at Roma.
With both sides holding perfect records heading into the top-two clash in the capital, it was an early-season glimpse of what may well be the Scudetto race this term.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Roma have arguably been the most impressive team in Italy so far this season, with Donyell Malen’s free-scoring form and a miserly defence giving them four wins from four.
Manu Kone’s double had given Roma a 2-0 lead at half-time but for the second time in a week Cristian Chivu’s side, inspired by Martinez’s brace, showed mettle as the champions fought back from such a deficit.
“There is a lot of positivity in this side, both teams could’ve won it,” Gasperini told DAZN.
Following the announcement earlier in the day of the death of Sandro Mazzola at the age of 83, both sides paid homage to the former Inter Milan and Italy playmaker before kick-off, with the Nerazzurri also sporting black armbands.
Roma raced out of the blocks as Kone sent them ahead with less than six minutes on the clock when he readjusted his body well to rifle home Nahuel Molina’s knockdown.
It was the France midfielder’s first goal of the season as Inter again made a sluggish start that will worry coach Cristian Chivu.
The champions had also bounced back from being 2-0 down inside the opening 16 minutes at home to Udinese to emerge 5-3 winners on Monday.
But Inter were not at the races for most of the opening period at the Stadio Olimpico as Paulo Dybala twice threatened to double the hosts’ advantage.
Source: Serie A/YouTubeFrance forward Marcus Thuram had a golden opportunity to get Chivu’s men level in the 26th minute but could only fire straight at Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
A clever Curtis Jones pass then presented Alessandro Bastoni with a chance at goal seven minutes later, but the Italy defender thrashed the ball against the post from a tight angle.
However, just as Inter slowly seemed to be waking up, Kone had the ball in the net again when he tucked in from close range at the back post on 37 minutes.
His celebrations were initially cut short by the assistant’s flag before VAR intervened and, after a lengthy review, referee Davide Massa pointed to the centre circle as the 25-year-old skipped off in delight after notching the sixth Serie A goal of his career.
- Inter awaken -
Former Inter defender Chivu delivered some choice words to his charges at half-time, which will “remain between the players and me”, the Romanian said.
Inter captain Martinez halved the deficit less than a minute after the interval with a scuffed finish from Thuram’s pull-back that just crept perfectly into the side netting of Svilar’s far post.
Dutch forward Malen came within a forehead’s breadth of adding to his tally of six goals in the 68th minute with a slick touch and turn in a crowded box, only for his venomous strike to cannon to safety off Inter stopper Josep Martinez’s brow.
Just as the match appeared to be petering out in the final 10 minutes, a sudden goalmouth scramble saw Svilar make a sharp save before Martinez headed onto the bar under pressure.
Inter, however, managed to recycle the ball, and it came back to the Argentine international inside the box, and this time he made no mistake as he controlled with his thigh and arrowed a finish past the Serb to ensure the spoils were shared.
Elsewhere, third-placed Cagliari climbed to 12 points courtesy of a 1-0 win at Udinese, for whom Ireland international James Abankwah completed 90 minutes.
Bologna and Torino played out a 1-1 draw in Emilia-Romagna.
Lazio joined their city rivals Roma and Inter on 13 points after beating bottom-side Venezia, who remain pointless, 2-0.
A 51st-minute Mattia Zaccagni penalty, coupled with a Tijjani Noslin goal on the hour, was enough to earn Gennaro Gattuso’s team a fourth win from five outings.
Raphinha scored a superb hat-trick to earn Barcelona a 3-1 win at Sevilla on Saturday in La Liga and preserve their 100% record.
Hansi Flick’s side moved six points clear of Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who visit Atletico Madrid in a derby clash on Sunday.
The Spanish champions were given the biggest test of their season to date but overcame Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán thanks to ex-Leeds United player Raphinha’s treble.
The Brazil international has started the season in sensational form, playing out of position as a central striker.
La Liga’s top goalscorer, Raphinha, reached 12 goals in seven league appearances with a second consecutive hat-trick.
“We know the quality of Raphinha, and we’re very happy about him; he gives us a lot,” Flick told reporters.
“After these numbers in these eight games, he’s very happy to play as a number nine.”
“(Raphinha) had never played as a centre-forward, but the truth is he’s having a great start to the season with great numbers, and I hope he keeps on scoring goals like this,” Barca midfielder Fermin Lopez told Movistar.
“He’s very good and can adapt to any position up front. We give him the balls, and he scores the goals.”
Source: FC Barcelona/YouTubeBarcelona sporting director Deco said the former Leeds winger had agreed to extend his stay at the club until 2030 ahead of the game, and Raphinha celebrated in style.
Flick handed Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic his debut in goal with Joan Garcia out injured.
Hosts Sevilla, fifth, started strongly, making Barca uncomfortable, and took the lead through Youssouf Fofana in the 19th minute.
Felix Correia escaped Eric Garcia and crossed for Fofana to nod home at the near post.
Teenage star Lamine Yamal almost pulled Barca level, but Sevilla goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos managed to push his curling effort against the post and out.
It was no surprise when the Catalans did equalise that it was Raphinha who was the man to score.
He cleverly shifted his body weight to escape a defender and slipped the ball home with a low finish.
- Relentless Raphinha -
Yamal sent another shot over, and after Sevilla fans whistled him, he goaded them to keep doing so.
Although the 19-year-old did not score himself, he did create Raphinha’s next two goals.
Early in the second half, Yamal crossed, and Raphinha headed home to put Barca in front.
Arguably his best finish was yet to come, with Yamal sending Raphinha through, for the Brazilian to dink the ball over the goalkeeper. It was his 14th of the season between La Liga and the Champions League.
Barca missed several chances to extend their lead, with Anthony Gordon getting his feet wrong and a Dani Olmo free-kick beaten away.
Nevertheless, Barca claimed an eighth win from eight games across all competitions this season, as they continue setting the pace in the Spanish top flight.
Sevilla fell to a second defeat of the season but left with their confidence intact after challenging Barca.
“We lacked energy in the second half, but we competed until the end. We leave with our heads held high, having shown a good attitude.”
Elsewhere, Celta Vigo thrashed Racing Santander 5-0, Athletic Bilbao and Alaves drew 0-0, and Osasuna were held 1-1 by Rayo Vallecano.
– © AFP 2026
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