Inter, Roma in dour draw
Cagliari claim second win
Inter and Roma both picked up their first point of the season in a combative draw at the San Siro last night which leaves the future of the respective coaches far from certain.
As in the midweek defeat to Trabzonspor, Inter coach Gian Piero Gasperini heard boos echoing around the stadium and was left still waiting for his first win in charge after four attempts.
Roma boss Luis Enrique, on the other hand, will know that what would normally be regarded as a good point in Milan does little to help his own cause.
There was also a worrying injury for Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, who was taken to hospital after receiving a boot to the head from Inter defender Lucio and was reported to have briefly lost consciousness.
As for the result, after such a tense encounter with few clearcut chances, neither coach can have too many complaints that their first win of the season will have to wait until at least the middle of this week.
Luis Enrique was forced into an early change after just 15 minutes when Stekelenburg had to be carried off the field and taken to hospital after his collision with Lucio.
His replacement Bogdan Lobont was promptly tested by Wesley Sneijder, whose shot from 20 yards skidded off the surface, but was saved at the second attempt by the Romanian.
That was Inter’s first shot of the game and Roma’s first arrived moments later from Fabio Borini, whose effort was too close to Julio Cesar to cause any danger.
Inter went closer when Yuto Nagatomo’s shot curled over the bar from the edge of the area in the 36th minute.
Roma followed Inter’s lead in creating, then spurning, another chance in the first minute of the second half with Osvaldo the man to be denied by Julio Cesar.
The best chance of the game fell to Sneijder in the 85th minute, but his shot was deflected wide by Simon Kjaer.
In yesterday’s opening Serie A match, Cagliari edged a tight encounter with Novara at the Stadio Sant’ Elia with goals from Thiago Ribeiro and Joaquin Larrivey taking the Sardinians to the top of Serie A, at least for a night.
A consolation effort from Takayuki Morimoto just before the final whistle was not enough to deny Cagliari their second 2-1 win in succession as they rose to the top of the pile ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.
Results
Serie A
Cagliari 2
T. Ribeiro 38; Larrivey 86;
Novara 1
Morimoto 88;
HT: 1-0. Att: 10,050.
Inter 0
Roma 0
Att: 58,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Cagliari | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Napoli | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Fiorentina | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Udinese | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Palermo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Milan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Chievo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Genoa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Lazio | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Catania | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Siena | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Inter | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Novara | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Roma | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Cesena | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Lecce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Atalanta | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -5 |
Today – 15.00
Atalanta vs Palermo - 12.30
Bologna vs Lecce
Catania vs Cesena
Lazio vs Genoa
Napoli vs Milan - 20.45
Parma vs Chievo
Siena vs Juventus
Udinese vs Fiorentina
Next fixtures
Tuesday: 20.45 Novara vs Inter.
Wednesday: 20.45 Cesena vs Lazio; Chievo vs Napoli; Fiorentina vs Parma; Genoa vs Catania; Juventus vs Bologna; Lecce vs Atalanta; Milan vs Udinese; Palermo vs Cagliari.
Thursday: 20.45 Roma vs Siena.
Serie B
Ascoli 0 - Sassuolo 1
Bari 1 - Nocerina 1
Cittadella 4 - Vicenza 2
Crotone 2 - Empoli 1
Livorno 3 - Juve Stabia 0
Modena 1 - Gubbio 1
Reggina 4 - Pescara 2
Sampdoria 0 - Grosseto 0
Varese 2 - AlbinoLeffe 1
Played on Friday
Verona 2 - Padova 2
Playing tomorrow
Torino vs Brescia - 20.45
Standings: Sassuolo 12; Padova 11; Brescia, Torino, Reggina, Livorno 10; Sampdoria, Grosseto, Pescara 9; AlbinoLeffe, Verona, Cittadella 7; Nocerina, Bari, Varese 5; Crotone (-1), Modena 4; Empoli 3; Vicenza, Gubbio 1; Ascoli (-7), Juve Stabia (-1) 0.