Lazio 3-1 Inter: Nerazzurri fall to late loss at Stadio Olimpico

Inter’s perfect start to the new Serie A season came to an end with a 3-1 defeat at Lazio on Friday night.

Simone Inzaghi’s men opened the new campaign with wins against Lecce and Spezia, but came crashing back down to Earth with a defeat at the Stadio Olimpico.

Star strikers Ciro Immobile and Romelu Lukaku missed golden chances for either side in the opening exchanges, with the Lazio forward firing wide from close range and Inter’s returning Belgian heading over.

Mattia Zacagni forced Samir Handanovic into a smart save just after the half hour mark before denying the ever-active Immobile.

But the Slovenian was unable to prevent the hosts from taking the lead on the stroke of half-time. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s through ball was met by Felipe Anderson, who got between Handanovic and Federico Dimarco to nod Lazio ahead.

Handanovic again denied Immobile just after the break before Lautaro Martinez levelled the scores. Lazio were unable to deal with a Dimarco free-kick and the diminutive Argentine picked his spot after being left unmarked.

Inter continued to push for a winner, but were caught blindsided by a wicked strike from Luis Alberto and fell behind again. His thunderbolt from 25 yards found the very top corner and took everyone by surprise with 15 minutes remaining.

Inzaghi made several attacking substitutions to try and salvage a point, but former Barcelona winger Pedro added Lazio’s third five minutes from time as Maurizio Sarri’s side moved to the top of the Serie A table.