Inter leave it late again in Serie A as Bologna sink AC Milan

Inter Milan returned to the Serie A summit with a nervy 2-0 win at bottom side Venezia on Wednesday, while a Samuel Mbangula hat-trick sealed a 4-2 win for Bologna at San Siro to inflict a first league defeat of the season on AC Milan. Champions Inter drew level with Lazio on 25 points at the top ahead of a hotly anticipated Milan derby meeting with their rivals on Saturday.

Ruben Amorim’s side will go into that game on the back of losing their unbeaten streak after Alphadjo Cisse’s double was not enough to avoid a defeat that left the Rossoneri fifth on 18 points. Fresh off a pulsating stoppage-time turnaround against Fiorentina on Sunday that marked their fifth comeback win of the season, Inter thought they would have to fight back from behind once again when Lion Lauberbach fired the rock-bottom hosts in front after 29 minutes.

The champions were handed a reprieve when it was ruled out for offside, but had goalkeeper Ivan Provedel to thank for keeping the scores level at the break as he diverted a Lauberbach effort off the bar. Venezia have picked up just three points all season but looked the likelier to make the breakthrough as Gianluca Busio fired over unmarked from 12 yards before Akor Adams rounded Provedel to score, only for the offside flag to save Inter again.

Last season’s Serie B champions stunned Napoli with a win on new coach Davide Nicola’s debut and another shock result looked possible until they were undone in painful fashion late on. Matias Moreno and Redouane Halhal diverted dangerous deliveries into their own net in the space of two minutes to ensure Inter returned to the top of the standings and Venezia remained rooted to the bottom. – Mbangula magic downs Milan – At San Siro, a lengthy injury list featuring the likes of Adrien Rabiot, Diego Moreira and Mario Gila restricted Amorim’s options for the first midweek round of the season, while the Milan coach left Christian Pulisic and Luka Modric on the bench.

Mbangula, making his full debut for Bologna, swept home the opener inside eight minutes, but the visitors were soon pegged back when an Arthur Theate error gifted Cisse a simple finish. The Milan teenager struck again in the 27th minute, volleying home a Fikayo Tomori cross, but the game was turned on its head once again in the space of two second-half minutes to stun the San Siro crowd.

The unfortunate Davide Bartesaghi turned a free-kick into his own net before Mbangula struck again with a composed control and finish in the box just after the hour mark. The 22-year-old then completed a memorable night four minutes from time when he beat Mike Maignan for a third time with a smart finish after Bologna robbed the ball in midfield. Bologna sealed back-to-back wins for the first time this season to move into 11th place on 11 points.

Elsewhere, Adrian Bernabe had a penalty saved by Maduka Okoye as struggling Parma and Udinese played out a 0-0 draw. Later on Wednesday, Juventus and Napoli travel to Genoa and Monza respectively. AFP