Champions Inter Milan remain on top of their domestic competitors despite a surprise away reverse in the capital at the hands of AS Roma who still languish in the bottom three. Their minds were probably elsewhere as their Argentinean captain Javier Zanetti recovered in hospital from a heart scare following their 2-1 win over Palermo the previous week. Boss Rafa Benitez will also have concerns over Dutch midfield maestro Wesley Schneider who after ruling out a move back to Real Madrid failed to do the same in respects of a possible future move to Manchester United.

Ironically, Roma’s late win helped arch Rome rivals Lazio to draw level with Inter on points with Chievo the early surprise package sat only a point behind in third alongside an equally surprised Brescia. It did not however enable them to climb out of the bottom three although they are one of six teams on 5 points as Serie A shapes up like many league sin the early stages with one or two wins catapulting any team up the table.

AC Milan continued their revival and former Inter star Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his fourth in five games to give them a single strike win over Genoa. Match of the week was Juventus against Cagliari with the hosts coming out 4-2 victors thanks to a hat-trick from Serbian winger Milos Krasic.

The full set of fixtures played at the weekend was a relief to all concerned following the threatened strike action by players over contractual wrangles. The Serie A breakaway from the rest of Italian football has not made the players positions any more secure and those approaching the final year of a contract fear being forced into transfer as clubs seek to secure at least some transfer fee for dispensing with their services.