Serie A: Napoli enjoy life after Higuain as De Boer encounters more problems

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Week 2 of Serie A produced plenty more goals, drama and talking points as Sumeet Paul runs through the action from the weekend.

Napoli find new heroes as they overcome AC Milan

If Napoli fans were still left angry and heartbroken over Gonzalo Higuain’s decision to move to Juventus, the current crop of stars are doing a decent job of helping them forget.

Dries Mertens was the hero last weekend as they clawed their way back from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at Pescara, and while the Belgian played an integral role in their thrilling 4-2 win over AC Milan on Saturday, it was summer signing Arkadiusz Milik who was beaming after bagging his first goals for the club.

It appeared as though the hosts had thrown away a two-goal lead after stunning individual efforts from M’Baye Niang and Suso had drawn the Rossoneri level, but back came Maurizio Sarri’s side, albeit without their coach who had been sent to the stands, as they made it four points from their first two games.

It was a match full of positives and negatives for Vincenzo Montella. While he could argue they deserved a point from it, red cards for Niang and Juraj Kucka ended any hopes of returning home with anything to show for their efforts.

Juventus march on as Inter struggle

Elsewhere, it was business as usual for Juventus as Sami Khedira’s goal earned them all three points at Lazio, while Frank De Boer’s Inter continued to toil after being held at home by Palermo.

The Dutchman hasn’t been in charge long but after last weekend’s defeat to Chievo, the pressure is already ramping up at a tense Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as the jeers become more audible the longer they were behind.

Antonio Candreva’s introduction sparked them into life though with Mauro Icardi off the mark as he scored the equaliser to earn them a share of the spoils.

Strootman on target but Roma can’t hold on

One of the best sights of the weekend was seeing Kevin Strootman find the back of the net. The Dutch midfielder has suffered with injury after injury in recent years, but he finally looks as though he’s put it behind him.

Having scored away at Cagliari to put Roma 2-0 up, he would have been forgiven for thinking that he had sealed all three points. However, in a week to forget for the capital club, they surrendered their two-goal lead to suffer further misery after their Champions League elimination in midweek.

Sassuolo win while Belotti bags hat-trick

Elsewhere, Domenico Berardi was on the scoresheet for Sassuolo as they sit with maximum points after two games along with Juve, Genoa and Sampdoria, although they will now be without their talismanic striker through injury. In addition, there was a celebratory hat-trick for Torino striker Andrea Belotti in his side’s 5-1 win over Bologna as he now links up with the Italy squad over the international break.

Results: Cagliari 2-2 Roma, Crotone 1-3 Genoa, Fiorentina 1-0 Chievo, Inter 1-1 Palermo, Lazio 0-1 Juventus, Napoli 4-2 Milan, Sampdoria 2-1 Atalanta, Sassuolo 2-1 Pescara, Torino 5-1 Bologna, Udinese 2-0 Empoli.

Follow Sumeet on Twitter @SP_Calcio

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