Roma-Inter 2-2: Koné and Lautaro both score twice

At the Olimpico, Roma ran half the game and Inter took the other half: 2-2, and by the end of the night Roma, Inter and Lazio all sit on 13 points at the top of Serie A after five rounds. It is the result that sums up the fifth matchday: nobody pulls away, nobody slips.

Manu Koné opened it. In the 6th minute he met Nahuel Molina's delivery for 1-0, in the 37th he did it again from Gianluca Mancini's assist: 2-0 at the break, with the Olimpico convinced the evening was settled. The comeback started in the 46th instead: Marcus Thuram found Lautaro Martínez, who pulled one back at the start of the second half. In the 79th the Argentine got his second and the 2-2 was done. Six players were booked in all — Evan Ndicka, Konstantinos Koulierakis and Daniele Ghilardi on one side, Nicolò Barella, Manuel Akanji and Alessandro Bastoni on the other.

The numbers show two very close teams and one detail that matters: 49% possession against 51%, 18 shots for Roma against Inter's 16, but 4 on target against 5. Expected goals read 1.69 for Roma and 2.37 for Inter: the away side created more than a second half spent chasing would suggest, and the 2-2 fits the match better than the 2-0 at half-time did.

By the data the best player on the pitch is Manu Koné: statistical rating 9.2 in the 60 minutes he played, two goals and then the bench. Lautaro Martínez follows on 8.9 across the full 90, behind them Mile Svilar and Paulo Dybala on 7.9. The lowest marks go to Gianluca Mancini (6.2), who still provided the assist for 2-0, Niccolò Pisilli (6.3) and Josep Martínez (6.3).

At Venezia, Lazio won 0-2 and are the third side on 13 points. The first half ended 0-0 and contained the moment that turned the game: in the 17th minute John Yeboah had a penalty saved. In the 51st it was Lazio's turn from the spot and Mattia Zaccagni made no mistake; in the 60th Nuno Tavares set up Tijjani Noslin for 0-2. The numbers favour Venezia — 17 shots against 11, 6 on target against 2, 1.88 expected goals against 1.60, 7 corners against 2 — but the hosts never scored: Christos Mandas's seven saves, statistical rating 8.2, explain much of the result.

For fantasy football the night belongs to two braces and a goalkeeper. Manu Koné and Lautaro Martínez each bring 2 goals, +6 apiece under the FantaTB rules; Mattia Zaccagni and Tijjani Noslin +3 each. Christos Mandas collects +3 for the saved penalty. One assist (+1) for Gianluca Mancini, Nahuel Molina, Marcus Thuram and Nuno Tavares. On the other side the penalties: -3 for John Yeboah for the missed spot kick, -2 for goalkeepers Mile Svilar, Josep Martínez and Filip Stanković for the two goals conceded, half a point off for every booked player. The full FantaTB scores land overnight.

The table after the evening has Roma first on 13 points with a goal difference of +11, Inter second on 13 (+7), Lazio third on 13 (+5), then Cagliari on 12 and Como on 10 with a game in hand. Venezia stay bottom on 0 points after five rounds, with -9 goal difference.

Around Europe, Barcelona won 3-1 at Sevilla with a Raphinha hat-trick (22', 52', 69') after Y. Fofana's opener in the 19th; Celta Vigo swept Racing Santander aside 5-0. In Ligue 1, Lyon put four past Rennes with two from E. Nuamah, Toulouse beat Le Havre 3-2, Angers won 2-0 against Estac Troyes and Le Mans 2-1 against Lorient. In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund won 0-1 away at VfB Stuttgart through M. Beier; in the Premier League, Coventry won 0-1 at Nottingham Forest through J. Dasilva.