Serie A Round-up: Inter and Ronaldo roll back the years both on and off the pitch

Conte has Inter partying like it's 1997

A lot has been written about Internazionale’s impressive start to the season under Antonio Conte, and rightly so, but tonight’s victory against Napoli will leave the fans with another reason to purr. ‘Candle in the Wind’ by Elton John was number 1 in the UK the last time Inter beat Napoli San Paolo, on the 18^th October 1997.

The ease at which the Milanese side won will be cause for concern though for Rino Gattuso. Inter’s quick pressing unsettled the Napoli midfield, particularly Fabian Ruiz, who was overrun at times.

Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with a trademark powerful run, stepover and finish, with the help of the selfless decoy from Lautaro Martinez. Alex Meret gifted the Belgian as second shortly after when he let his driven shot through him. Arkadiusz Milik did pull one back before half time but Martinez settled Inter nerves when he stabbed home from close range. Although Inter did look irresistible on the break the home side were the architects of their own downfall at times with some sloppy play at the back. One negative for the Serie A leaders though is that the yellow cards picked up by Milan Skriniar and Nicola Barella mean they will both miss the next weeks tie against high scoring Atalanta.

High-flying Atalanta score 10 in two

The Bergamo side has started the year as the ended the last, with another 5 – 0 thumping, this time Parma was their unfortunate victims. Goals from Papu Gomez, Remo Freuler, Robin Gosens and a Josip Ilicic brace ensured the Bergamo side moved to only one point behind AS Roma, in the race for 4^th, after they fell to a 2 – 0 defeat thanks to a brace from Andrea Belotti.

Racism still in the headlines in 2020

Ciro Immobile and Lazio keep marching on, a last-minute penalty from the former Sevilla man gave the Roman club their 8^th victory in a row in all competitions and means they remain 6 points behind Inter and Juve at the top of the table, with a game in hand. The victory was marred though with more reports of racist chants. Mario Balotelli took to Instagram to voice his disgust after he was allegedly targeted for abuse when he scored the game’s opening goal.

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Sconfitta che fa male ma ci rifaremo siamo sulla strada giusta. Laziali presenti oggi allora stadio VERGOGNATEVI! #saynotoracism✊🏾🤬 Is a lost that hurt but we will come back stronger and we are on the right way! Lazio fans that were today at the stadium SHAME ON YOU! #saynotoracism ✊🏾

A post shared by Mario Balotelli🇮🇹 🇬🇭👨‍👧‍👦🦁 (@mb459) on Jan 5, 2020 at 6:50am PST

You would be forgiven for thinking it had just turned 2010 after seeing Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday. The Portuguese star always comes to life after the winter break in time for the business end of the season and this year was no different. He bagged 3 against a stubborn Cagliari to send Juve back to the summit, if only for a few hours, but before kick-off, he was even pictured sporting an iPod Shuffle on his way the to the dressing room. So last decade.