Calhanoglu Seals Inter Win as Como Shock Napoli in Serie A

Hakan Calhanoglu struck early to give Inter Milan a nervy 1-0 win at Cagliari on Sunday, maintaining the champions’ perfect start to their Serie A title defence. Elsewhere, Como spoiled Massimiliano Allegri’s home debut as Napoli coach with a 2-1 victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Inter’s win sent Cristian Chivu’s side top of the table after two matches, ahead of AC Milan, Juventus and Lazio on goal difference. Como moved to four points after being held by Udinese in their opener, while last season’s runners-up Napoli remained on three points.

Calhanoglu’s early finish enough for Inter

Calhanoglu settled the match in Sardinia after nine minutes, guiding a first-time effort home from the edge of the box. The Turkey midfielder’s second goal in two games gave Inter an early advantage and set the tone for a first half in which the visitors were on top.

However, Inter could not turn their control into a more comfortable lead. Wayward finishing, combined with fine goalkeeping from Cagliari’s Elia Caprile, kept the score at 1-0 at the break. The champions continued to miss opportunities after the interval, with Lautaro Martinez, Francesco Pio Esposito and Alessandro Bastoni all squandering good chances.

Curtis Jones made his Inter debut from the bench in the second half, but the visitors’ failure to find another goal left the contest open deep into the match. Cagliari mounted a late push for an equaliser, creating a flurry of chances which threatened to turn the game against Chivu’s team.

Inter finished with 29 shots but only Calhanoglu’s goal to show for their efforts. Chivu acknowledged both the volume of chances his side created and the danger posed by failing to finish the contest earlier.

“These are your classic games where if you don’t close them out, you can run into trouble,” Chivu told Sky Italia. “In the last few minutes, we fell apart, getting confused and panicking. But we held firm, and we created a lot. If there is one regret, it is not finishing off the many chances we had.”

Lazio also made it two wins from two, beating Genoa 1-0 in Rome thanks to a second consecutive match-winning strike from summer signing Davide Frattesi.

Como hold off Napoli after Douvikas winner

Earlier in Naples, Como produced another eye-catching Serie A result by beating Napoli. Martin Baturina put Cesc Fabregas’s side ahead in the 17th minute in a match which saw chances at both ends in soaring temperatures.

Napoli responded on the half-hour through Rasmus Hojlund, whose strike levelled the score. But Como quickly regained the lead when a defensive mix-up allowed Anastasios Douvikas to score for the second game in succession.

Kevin De Bruyne, who had inspired Napoli’s opening win over Genoa with a goal and an assist from the bench, was introduced early in the second half but could not change the outcome. Como survived late pressure, and Stanislav Lobotka had a stoppage-time effort ruled out for offside.

Fabregas described the result as highly valuable, praising his team’s first-half display and its resilience after the break against the champions. He also said he hoped Como would add a striker before the transfer window closed on September 1, pointing to the demands of balancing league and cup football.

The second round of the Serie A season concludes on Monday, when Roma travel to Lecce and Atalanta host Bologna.