Week 8 review: Five star Inter

Genoa 0-5 Inter Milan
Just when it looked like Inter were vunerable to a defeat away to an in form Genoa outfit, they show their quality big time. Indeed, it did not take Inter long to get the ball rolling at the Marassi as Estaban Cambiasso put them ahead after just a couple of minutes. In the absence of Milito and Eto'o, Balotelli lead the line with Sneijder and Stankovic just behind them and it was the dutchman's stunning through ball that set Balotelli up for Inter's second as he drove past Marco Amelia into the bottom left corner. Genoa were shell shocked, and the game was all but over at half time as Dejan Stankovic scored from the half way line by volleying a Marco Amelia clearance into the goal. Stunning. But, Inter were not done and Douglas Maicon added a fourth with a cool finish for 4-0, and then Substitute Patrick Viera added a 5th late on as Inter now face Dynamo Kiev with confidence.

Juventus 1-1 Fiorentina
But before Inter's win Fiorentina continued their excellent start to the season by picking up a solid point away to Turin giants Juventus. Indeed, it was Fiorentina who took the lead early on through in form Manuel Vargas who finished of a move from Stefan Jovetic. It didn't take long though for Juve to impose themselves and Amauri should have leveled the tie but somehow managed to miss an open goal. Though, Amauri, did level the tie later on when he tapped in to score his first goal of the season, his first infact since a 1-1 draw against Sampdoria at home last season. Juve were dominating now, but couldn't turn their possession into an advantage as they dropped two more points to fall four behind Inter.

Milan 2-1 Roma
Somehow, Milan managed to turn around a game that could have effectively been over after 10 minutes. Promising French youngster Jeremy Menez gave Roma the lead, as he did last year in the corresponding fixture, early on after some woeful defending from Thiago Silva in the early going. Indeed, it could, and should, have been 0-2 to Roma moments later as Menez again was clean through but this time Dida came up big. Menez again was lively moments later as he got through the Milan back line again but Thiago Silva did enough to put him off, and Menez did well to stay on his feet. Milan though began to dominate possession and Ronaldinho had a decent effort from distance go wide. However, again Roma should have doubled their lead when Mirco Vuncinic got through the Milan back line but he almost had too much time as he shot straight at Dida. After the break Milan began to look much more purposeful and on 53 minutes equilised through a Ronaldinho penalty. Nesta was brought down, and Ronnie smashed home into the bottom left corner. This seemed to give Milan a huge lift and they began to look much more dangerous, and it came to pass in the 67 minute that Milan took the lead. A wonderful Ronaldinho through ball from close to the half way line fed Pato who then left the defence and goalkeeper for dead as he fired past for 2-1. It was a nervy last ten minutes for Milan as Ambrosini was somewhat dubiously sent off, but a much needed three points for them in the end.

Lazio 1-1 Sampdoria
High flying Sampdoria took a point against a struggling Lazio in Rome, and both sides would have felt at the games end that they missed out on the three points. Lazio started much the brighter and should have been ahead after Francelino Matuzalem was set up by Zarate, and did the hard work, but failed to add the finish. Rocchi went close, and Cassano to for Sampdoria but Muslera made a smart save. Howeverm largely against the run of play Samp took the lead through the superb Giampaolo Pazzini who's trickery threaded Palladino who then crossed into the area for Pazzini to fire home. The lead was short though as a stunning Rocchi throughball fed Matuzalem who made no mistake this time by leveling the tie. Lazio came out strong for the beginning of the second half and Stefano Mauri picked up from his poor first half performance by setting up Rocchi twice, but Il Capitano failed to make the most of it. Samp were reduced to ten men as Palladino was sent off, but it didn't seem to affect their forward play as Lazio were pushed back for a considerable period. Then, to add to the drama, Lazio were sent down to ten as Roberto Baronio was given his marching orders. It was all Samp now, as Muslera had to make a smart save from a Ziegler free kick as Cassano smashed an effort off the up right. Pazzini's nose was broken as well as Muslera attempted to punch the ball but got Giampaolo instead. Lazio picked up the pace in stoppages with Mauri, Zarate and Cruz all going close but it finished 1-1.

Elsewhere
Parma continued their quite but excellent form by beating Siena 1-0 and moving up to 14 points in the table, while Napoli under Walter Mazzari for the first time had Cristian Maggio to thank as he scored a 90th minute winner for Napoli to take the spoils 2-1. Udinese were rocked by the Conte effect as Atalanta finally picked up their first win of the season by winning 3-1 away from home, while Catania also picked up their first win by beating an unpredictable Cagliari 2-1 at home with the excellent Martinez scoring the winner. Bari contiued their outstanding start to the season by winning away at Chievo by 2-1, and remain unbeaten only once this season so far by Cagliari. Finally, Palermo built upon their win over Juventus by defeating basement dwellers Livorno away from home by 2-1 with the inspiration Miccoli on the scoresheet.

Serie A by numbers
Home wins: 4
Away wins: 4
Top goal scorer: Antonio Di Natale 9 goals in 8 games
Round attendance: 220370 fans