De Ligt keeps Juve top; Lukaku scores brace as Inter pip Bologna

Matthijs de Ligt made sure Juventus kept hold of top spot in Serie A on Saturday after his first goal for the club saw off local rivals Torino, leaving Inter Milan in second despite Romelu Lukaku taking his league tally to nine with a brace in a 2-1 win at Bologna.

Inter had briefly led in Italy after Lukaku slotted home a 92nd-minute penalty to snatch the three points at Bologna, but Juve retook first place thanks to De Ligt, who smashed home the only goal of the game in Turin with 20 minutes remaining.

Maurizio Sarri’s side stay a point ahead of Inter thanks to a hard-fought derby win that saw both sides exchange blows in a bruising contest.

De Ligt has had a shaky start to life in Italy and could well have given away an early penalty when he touched the ball with his arm early in the first half, but was let off by referee Daniele Doveri and the VAR officials.

However the Netherlands international, who had already been denied by a superb Salvatore Sirigu stop just before the break, came up trumps in the 70th minute when he met substitute Gonzalo Higuain’s pull back just after the Argentine had forced a corner with a sizzling volley.

The win maintains Juve’s unbeaten start to the season and keeps them on course for a ninth straight league title, while Inter have to content themselves with second despite Lukaku’s match-winning display.

The Belgian became the first player since Ronaldo in 1997/98 to score at least nine goals in his first 11 Serie A matches as an Inter player after a 75th-minute tap-in which cancelled out Roberto Soriano’s deflected opener and a stoppage time spot-kick winner. Inter have been tipped as the principal challengers for Juve’s Serie A title but had to be saved from a lacklustre display by their star summer signing, who arrived from Manchester United for $73 million.

His form will be a big boost going into Tuesday’s huge trip to Borussia Dortmund, which could make or break their Champions League campaign with both sides level on four points behind Group F leaders Barcelona. Inter are also six points ahead of Roma, who moved third in Serie A on Saturday after their 2-1 win over wobbling Napoli.

Rising star Nicolo Zaniolo opened the scoring midway through the first half with his fourth goal in as many games in all competitions before Jordan Veretout sealed the points from the penalty spot 10 minutes after the break and stretched Roma’s unbeaten league run to six games.

Agence France-Presse