Spezia blow Serie A title race open by beating AC Milan (2-0)

AC Milan slipped up in the Serie A title race as they went down 2-0 to Spezia at the Stadio Alberto Picco on Saturday night.

The hosts took the lead 10 minutes into the second half when the ball fell to Giulio Maggiore, who slotted into an empty net with Gianluigi Donnarumma off his line.

Some 10 minutes later, Spezia found a second goal, with Nahuel Estevez laying a freekick off to Simone Bastoni, whose pinpoint strike went in off the far post.

Milan's defeat leaves the door open to Inter, who can go top of Serie A with a win over Lazio at the San Siro on Sunday.

Gattuso given breathing room as Napoli edge past Juventus (1-0)

Napoli recorded a memorable win over Juventus on Saturday evening as a single Lorenzo Insigne penalty saw them edge past the Italian champions.

Gennaro Gattuso came into the weekend's meeting with himself and close friend and former teammate Andrea Pirlo under severe pressure, but it was he who had the last laugh, claiming revenge for their recent Supercoppa Italiana loss against La Vecchia Signora.

Things started out with neither side overly concerned by the presence of their respective midfields, and both teams looked to play in as direct a way as possible.

Despite their attacking ambitions, though, little of note happened in the opening half hour as Giorgio Chiellini, who was making his 400th top-flight appearance, went to war with Victor Osimhen and, largely, came out on top.

But as the 30th minute drew closer it was Chiellini who gave the Partenopei a chance to lead. A freekick was gathered by Wojciech Szczesny, but Amir Rrahmani went down between the Pole and the veteran defender to prompt a VAR check.

A review showed that Chiellini had raised an arm and struck the Kosovan, before he crashed into Szczesny and went to ground, leading to a Partenopei penalty. Lorenzo Insigne stepped up and, as he had failed to do in the Supercoppa Italiana final last month, converted.

Cristiano Ronaldo underwhelmed with a couple of freekicks, and he could only find Alex Meret's hands with a rare attempt on target.

Alvaro Morata had the ball in the net in the second half, but the goal wasn't to stand, and Meret had to make a big stop late on as Napoli held onto the points.

The win comes as much-needed relief for Gennaro Gattuso, who could have seen his time at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona come to an end with a defeat.

Lukaku fires Inter top of Serie A ahead of derby with AC Milan (3-1)

Inter took advantage of AC Milan's 2-0 defeat to Spezia on Saturday to climb top of the Serie A table after a convincing 3-1 victory over Lazio on Sunday.

Romelu Lukaku netted a brace in the first half and Gonzalo Escalante pulled one back just after the hour mark, but Lautaro Martinez netted Inter's third to clinch all three points.

Inter were awarded a penalty kick 20 minutes in and the Belgium international didn't miss from the spot. Lukaku scored his second just after the break and Inter headed into half time with a two-goal lead.

Lazio reacted after the interval with Escalante deflecting Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's freekick past Samir Handanovic on the hour mark.

It took Inter just three minutes to respond, with Lukaku teeing up Lautaro who netted from a close range to round off the home side's victory.

Inter heads into Derby della Madonnina with a one-point lead over second-placed Milan, who are set to host the Nerazzurri on Sunday at 15:00 CET.

Source: Marca / Andrew McDougall - Panos Kostopoulos - Conor Clancy