Cavani inspired Napoli ease past Lazio

An Edison Cavani hat-trick fired Napoli joint top of the Serie A table, as they thrashed Lazio 3-0 at the San Paolo.

Napoli opened the scoring after 19 minutes as Cavani let fly from 25 yards; however it needed a deflection from the unlucky Michael Ziani otherwise Federico Marchetti would have dealt with the effort.

If Marchetti was unfortunate with the first, he should have done better with Cavani’s second as the Uruguayan scored from a tight angle, despite the Italian goalkeeper getting a good hand on the shot.

Napoli killed the game off with 63 minutes gone as Cavani finished well into the bottom left of the goal.

Lazio were poor throughout; however with the game scoreless Miroslav Klose appeared to have given his side the lead, only for it to be ruled out for handball, which to the German strikers credit, he did admit to when asked about by the referee.

Napoli romp ends Ranieri's short Inter honeymoon

Napoli moved top of the Serie with a controversial yet stunning 3-0 victory over Inter Milan in the San Siro.

A Marek Hamsik inspired Napoli were undoubtedly fortunate to take a lead in at half time, as Hugo Campagnaro smashed home after Hamsik's dubious penalty was saved. The controversial moment of the game occured after Joel Obi 's foul on Christian Maggio, which was a good yard outside the area, saw the Nigerian collect his marching orders for a second yellow card offence.

The second half however was a difference story as Napoli outclassed Inter's ten men, and further goals from Maggio and man of the match Hamsik meant Claudio Ranieri's honeymoon spell with Inter had well and truely ended.

Both sides came into the match on the back of their first Champions League victory of the season, however both inconsistent in the League. Another theme the two had in common was the absence of their key player as Inter were without Wesley Sneijder and Napoli missing their talismanic striker Edison Cavani.

Diego Forlan came the closest early on as Inter Milan dominated the early proceedings. The Uruguayans' shot went marginally wide of Morgan De Santics post, with the keeper beaten.

The returning Maicon was a threat down the right hand side, with the pace of the full-back on occasions ensuring the Brazilian got in behind the Napoli back three, however his composure when in the danger zone was poor and twice failed to find his team mate when well placed.

Inter continued to dictate the play and Giampaolo Pazzini had a goal disallowed for offside. The Italian striker reacted quickest to a De Santics parry from an Estaban Cambiasso drive, however the former Fiorentina man was, marginally offside.

The games turning point however happened on 41 minutes when Obi was adjudged to have fouled Maggio inside the box. The decision was highly controversial as the foul was clearly committed outside the penalty area. To rub salt into the Inter Milan wound, the unfortunate Nigerian was also shown a second yellow card for the incident.

Hamsik saw his spot kick saved by Julio Cesar, however the rebound fell nicely for Campagnaro who smashed past the Brazilian keeper.

A number of Inter players' frustrations boiled over as they surrounded the referee minutes after the decision and Cristian Zanetti and Julio Cesar picked up yellow cards for dissent. Cesar in particular crossed a line, as he had to consistently be held back by team mates and his actions where fortunate not to result in a second Inter red card.

Inter replaced the injured Cristian Chivu with Yuto Nagatoma at half time, and the Japanese full-back was at fault for an out of the blue Napoli second. Inter despite being down to ten men came out of the traps the quickest, however a long ball caused confusion between the duo as they both left the ball for each other and Maggio got in between the duo to loft the ball brilliantly over Cesar's head.

The goal ensured Inter Milan had conceded the most goals in Serie A this season.

With Napoli now in complete control, Zuniga incredibly missed an open goal from inside the 6 yard box to kill off the 2010 Serie A Champions. A one two between Zuniga and Hamsik saw the later released into the Inter box, the Slovakian unselfishly squared it for Zuniga who somehow contrived the blaze over with the goal gapping.

Napoli were demonstrating perfectly how to keep at bay ten men, and after a spell of five unchallenged minutes of possession, Ezequiel Lavezzi expertly thread the ball through for Hamsik who smashed by the helpless Cesar for an incredible third.

The full time whistle meant Napoli have beaten both Milan sides already this season, scoring three on both occasions.

The result enhances the belief Napoli have a genuine chance of winning the Scudetto as well as confirming Inter's place in the bottom half of the table.

The weekend's Italian Round up (Done before midweek games + Inter sacking)

Link to goals and tables from Europe

Previous week's round up
Rest of Europe La Liga  Serie A

Serie A
Napoli were too good for AC Milan in a fantastic game which saw Edison Cavani score a hat-trick in a come from behind 3-1 victory, in doing so firing a warning to their Serie A rivals.

The result see's Napoli top the table after two consecutive 3-1 win's, where AC Milan slide down to 17th after just one point from their opening two games.

Alberto Aquilani opened the scoring with a brilliant header, after good work from Antonio Cassano. However Napoli's response was quick as Cavani lashed home from a Marek Hamsik free kick just two minutes later. The striker turned the game on its head after a great counter attack, spearheaded by the impressive Walter Gargano who set up his Urugyian counterpart who beat Cristian Abbiati at his near post. Cavani completed the scoring as well as his hat trick just seven minutes into the second half as he smashed home after Alessandro Nesta's failed clearence.

Napoli fully deserved the three points and under Walter Mazzari are geniune title contenders. Their 3-4-2-1 formation is very efficient and AC Milan never really looked like winning this match after Cavani had levelled.

How Napoli regularly lined up last year, however they've been improved with the addition of Gokan Inhler and Goran Pandev.

A.S Roma bounced back after defeat at home to Cagliari last week, with a good defensive display in the San Siro away to Inter Milan, as both Italian giants picked up their first point of the season in a goalless draw. The game's real talking point was the unfortunate injury to Roma's new number one Martin Stekelenburg after a collision with an onrushing Lucio. The Brazilian defender tried to hurdle Stekelenburg however his boot caught the keeper and the Dutch goalkeeper had to be substituted in the first half. The game on the whole was a lively encounter as both teams spurned good chances to steal a victory, with Wesley Sneijder's deflected effort somehow creeping wide.

Juventus, like Napoli, made it back to back wins with a 1-0 victory away to Siena. The match winner came in the shape of Alessandro Matri. Siena rarely threatened the Turin side, and the margin of victory should've been more. The goal came after great work from new signing Mirko Vuckenic who got the byline brilliantly to find Matri, who after his discomfort in front of goal last week, will no doubt be pleased to have finished the simple chance.

Udinese joined Napoli and Juve at the top of Serie A as they beat Fiorentina 2-0 with goals coming from  a Antonio Di Natale penalty and a Maurico Isla drive. Despite losing key players in the summer, Udinese have started the season well and Arthur Boruc in the Fiorentina goal was a busy man in ensuring the scoreline was respectable.

Genoa came from behind to beat Lazio with scoring a 71st minute winner. Guiseppi Sculli opened the scoring from a Miroslav Klose cross, before the Argentine Rodrigo Palacio finished cooly to level the scores early on in the second half. With the game looking like ending all square, Juraj Kucka finished the easiest of chances to ensure the three points were Genoa's.

Other results
Cagliari 2 Novara 1
Atlanta 1 Palermo 0
Bologna 0 Leece 2
Catania 1 Cesena 0
Parma 2 Chievo 1