Treated like an emperor upon his arrival in the eternal city, Paulo Dybala gave his Roman faithful plenty to cheer about as he scored his first two goals in the Giallorossi colors to help his side beat Silvio Berlusconi’s AC Monza 3-0.
The Argentine scored his first in the 18th minute. Racing onto a flick from Tammy Abraham, he guided the ball past Michele di Gregorio in the Monza goal with the outside of his foot. Shortly after, the Roma pair combined again. After Abraham’s original shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Dybala followed up, sliding in to convert the rebound.
Abraham was unlucky not to register himself on the scoresheet as the clock closed in on the hour. The Englishman burst through the Monza defence with nimble footwork but took the ball away from the goal before his shot was diverted behind for a corner kick. Shortly after, from a set-piece, Roger Ibanez powered home a header to secure the points for Jose Mourinho’s side.
In Milan, Internazionale cruised past the newly-promoted Cremonese without much difficulty – the Nerazzurri on the right end of a 3-1 scoreline just days after being on the wrong end of one.
The hosts took the lead in the 12th minute. Nicolo Barella, who would be involved in all three of his team’s goals on the night, squared the ball to Edin Dzeko on the edge of the box, and, while the Bosnian’s effort was saved by the goalkeeper, Joaquin Correa was alert enough to tap in the rebound from close range.
Barella put Inter two-nil up on the scoreline in the 38th minute with a sensational strike. The Italian timed his run to perfection to meet a Hakan Calhanoglu cross on the edge of the box before steering it past Ionut Radu with a spectacular volley.
He then assisted Inter’s third, as it was his through ball that Lautaro Martinez took in his stride and slammed past Radu in the corner of the net – 76 minutes into the match. David Okereke pulled a goal back for Cremonese late on, but it proved to be nothing more than a mere consolation.
As Roma and Inter celebrated wins, AC Milan had to settle for a 0-0 draw against Sassuolo. However, it could have been much worse for the Rossoneri if not for custodian Mike Maignan, who saved a spot-kick in the 22nd minute from Domenico Berardi to keep his side into the game.
