Defending champion Inter Milan achieved its first win of the season by beating Lecce 2-0 in an Italian League match held at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Milan, on Sunday (25/8/2024) early morning IST.
With this result, the Nerazzurri are now at the top of the Italian League standings with four points, while Lecce are languishing at the bottom of the standings with no points.
The match had only been going on for five minutes when Inter took the lead. Federico Dimarco sent in a cross that hit Mehdi Taremi. The ball then fell to Matteo Darmian who was unmarked and headed the ball into the Parma goal.
Dimarco again provided a cross that was blocked by Lecce goalkeeper Wladimore Falcone, while Federico Baschirotto managed to stop a follow-up effort from Inter captain Nicolo Barella.
Benjamin Pavard successfully intercepted Nikola Krstovic’s cutback, but Taremi failed to execute a perfect bicycle kick to meet Darmian’s cross.
Early in the second half, Marcus Thuram fired wide after being set up by Barella. There was a scramble in front of the Lecce goal when Taremi’s shot was blocked by Falcone and Kialoda Gaspar.
Thuram went down as he chased the ball and it looked like Inter were going to be awarded a penalty. However, replays confirmed the referee’s decision not to see a foul by Gaspar on Taremi.
Lecce almost equalised when Krstovic’s header was blocked by goalkeeper Yann Sommer. Inter were then awarded a penalty in the 70th minute after Gaspar fouled Thuram in the box. Hakan Calhanoglu converted the spot kick to put Inter 2-0 up.
Late in the game, Medon Berisha had Lecce’s best chance with a long-range effort, but Sommer was able to deny him, as Inter secured a 2-0 win, their first of the season.
In another match, Genoa continued their impressive form this season by winning 1-0 away to Monza.
Genoa, who in the first week managed to hold Inter to a 2-2 draw, achieved this narrow victory thanks to a single goal from new recruit Andrea Pinamonti in the 45+7 minute.
With this result, I Rossoblu now occupy second place in the standings with four points, while Monza are stuck in 16th place with one point.