AFP – Inter Milan crashed to their first defeat of the Serie A season yesterday, going down 2-1 at home to Sassuolo as controversial striker Victor Osimhen starred for Napoli despite an apparent rift with the champions.
Inter went into the game with a perfect record of five wins in five and looked in control at 1-0 ahead thanks to a Denzel Dumfries goal on the stroke of half-time at the San Siro.
Sassuolo levelled in the 54th minute when Nedim Bajrami scored with a long-range effort which caught out goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Domenico Berardi hit the winner 10 minutes later as Sassuolo claimed all three points to follow up last week’s win over Juventus.
Inter remain top of the table on goal difference ahead of AC Milan who earlier defeated Cagliari 3-1.
After a defeat and two draws, champions Napoli returned to winning ways with Osimhen starring in a 4-1 win over Udinese.
The Nigerian striker scored his fourth goal of the season after 39 minutes with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ending a goal drought by finding the net in the second half.
Osimhen, top scorer in Serie A last season, had cut a controversial figure at the weekend when he showed his displeasure at being taken off by coach Rudy Garcia in the 0-0 draw with Bologna. On Tuesday, his agent threatened Napoli with legal action for having published a video on the club’s TikTok account, since deleted, mocking the striker for missing a penalty in that game.
Osimhen removed photos of himself in Napoli colours from his own social media, fuelling speculation that he will demand a move in the next transfer window.
“I have a very good relationship with Victor,” insisted Garcia.
“I am happy for him because he scored tonight. After the match in Bologna, we were all frustrated, angry, Victor in particular, because he missed the penalty.
“On the sporting aspect and on other levels, especially on TikTok, there have been a lot of things to manage in recent days,” Garcia said. “But I can assure you that Victor loves this jersey and that he is invested in our project.”
Napoli are now fifth in the table with 11 points, four points behind the two Milan clubs.
