Romelu Lukaku scored his first goal of the season in just 82 seconds to mark his return for Inter Milan. But it was Denzel Dumfries’ stoppage-time winner that gave Inter a 2-1 victory over newly promoted Lecce on Saturday, just as the Nerazzurri appeared to be heading for a surprise draw.
The Belgian returned to Inter on loan this offseason, a year after leaving to join Chelsea shortly after leading the Nerazzurri to the Serie A title. The Belgian began his second stint at Inter against the same team he faced on his debut three years ago, scoring in a 4-0 win.
And it took less than two minutes for the Belgian forward to reopen his Inter account. Federico Dimarco floated in a left-wing cross, which Matteo Darmian nodded back across goal for Lukaku to head in from close range.
However, unlike Lukaku’s first debut, Lecce was not going to give up. Soon after the break, Federico Di Francesco fed Assan Ceesay for an angled drive into the far bottom corner, bringing the home side level. On the hour mark, Lecce almost took the lead, but Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovi saved Kristijan Bistrovi’s fierce free kick. But it was all Inter after that.
Dumfries’ header hit the post, and Lukaku’s goal was ruled out for a foul in the buildup. Wladimiro Falcone, the goalkeeper for Lecce, also made a number of impressive saves, including one late on to deny Lukaku. Falcone’s defenders let him down in the fifth minute of stoppage time when they failed to mark Dumfries, who chested the ball in from close range after Lautaro Martinez had nodded down a corner.
Meanwhile, the first refereeing controversy occurred less than ten minutes into the Serie A season. Milan was trailing when captain Davide Calabria collided with Udinese defender Brandon Soppy in the penalty area as both went for the ball.
Referee Livio Marinelli awarded a penalty to AC Milan after a lengthy pause to review the incident on the pitchside monitor, much to the chagrin of the visiting team. The penalty was converted by Theo Hernandez, and Ante Rebic volleyed Milan ahead shortly after. And with less than two minutes on the clock, Rodrigo Beco headed in a corner to give Udinese a shocking lead.
Although Milan quickly recovered, they were pegged back at halftime when Roberto Pereyra floated in a cross from the right, and Adam Masina escaped his marker for a diving header on the stroke of halftime.
However, Milan took the lead again just 30 seconds after the break when two Udinese defenders collided while attempting to deal with Hernández’s cross, allowing Brahim Diaz to tap in at the back post. Diaz was also involved in Milan’s fourth goal, as he muscled his way along the byline before passing to Rebic, who fired into the top left corner.
Silvio Berlusconi’s first game back in Serie A ended in defeat, as his newly promoted Monza team lost 2-1 at home to Torino. Meanwhile, Ademola Lookman scored on his debut to help Atalanta defeat Sampdoria 2-0. Lookman’s goal came in stoppage time after Samp had twice hit the crossbar. Rafael Toloi had opened the scoring for Atalanta.
