Inter Milan’s forward Ivan Perisic celebrates after scoring against Sampdoria during the Italian Serie A football match in Genoa. (AFP)

AFP/Milan

Ivan Perisic’s maiden goal for Inter Milan in a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria sent the Nerazzurri back on top of Serie A yesterday, as Roma continued their early season push with a convincing 4-2 win away to Palermo.
Elsewhere, champions Juventus outclassed Bologna 3-1 to earn their first home win of a stuttering campaign, while Keita Balde and Filip Djordjevic struck in the 80th and 94th minutes to seal a 2-0 win for Lazio over promoted Frosinone.  
With five opening wins, Roberto Mancini’s Inter side had been the early season pacesetters—until a 4-1 humbling by Fiorentina last week sent La Viola on top thanks to superior goal difference.
The Nerazzzurri’s title ambitions were kept in check for the second successive week and Sampdoria were unlucky not to take all three points after missing a host of chances in a dominant first half.
But Mancini claimed a draw was the fair result.
“Sampdoria are a quality side, especially if you give them space, and they put us in trouble especially with their counter-attacks in the opening half,” he said.
“But we came back into it in the second half and, on the whole, a draw was the fair result.”
In a hotly-contested encounter at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, Inter were heading for their second successive defeat after Luis Muriel slid in at the back post to meet Pedro Pereira’s inswinging cross and beat goalkeeper Samir Handanovic in the 51t minute.
It ended the hosts’ long wait for a goal after a succession of earlier misses by Eder, Muriel and Joaquin Correa, who produced an absolute howler when he somehow skewed the ball wide of an empty net only a yard from the goal-line.
Those misses proved costly when Sampdoria’s defence went walkabout in the 75th minute and Perisic stuck out his right leg at the back post to beat Emiliano Viviano. Inter’s first draw of the season sent them top of the pile with a one-point lead on Fiorentina, although Paulo Sousa’s men will go two points clear if they beat Atalanta.
Samp coach Walter Zenga applauded his side’s display but lamented the misses that could have settled the game earlier.
“We played a great game and created a lot of chances, but we conceded a crazy goal that took two points off us,” said the former Italy goalkeeper.
“We should have doubled our lead after Muriel’s opener and that would have settled it.”
Fellow scudetto hopefuls Roma moved up to provisional third place, two points behind Inter, with a comprehensive 4-2 win away to Palermo.
Days after a humbling 3-2 defeat to Champions League group opponents BATE Borisov, Roma travelled to Sicily hoping to make amends albeit without Edin Dzeko and Francesco Totti, who are both sidelined with injury for the next three weeks.
However any fears the Giallorossi would suffer another slip-up were dispelled after just two minutes when Miralem Pjanic latched on to Alessandro Florenzi’s through ball to beat Stefano Sorrentino from close range.
Florenzi doubled Roma’s lead 12 minutes later with a clinical, close-range strike and Gervinho confirmed his recent return to form with a superb curling drive on 28 minutes to put the match beyond reach.  
Palermo reduced arrears twice, through Alberto Gilardino on the hour and Gonzalez on the stroke of full time.
But Gervinho put the result beyond all doubt with his second of the game barely a minute later to hand Roma their fourth win in seven games.
Garcia hailed his side’s efforts.
“Hats off to the lads because it’s never easy winning away from home. I just hope we don’t have to score four goals every time we want to win,” said the Frenchman.
Juventus were stunned after five minutes when Anthony Mounier pounced for Bologna.
But Alvaro Morata, who helped orchestrate Juve’s Champions League win over Sevilla in midweeek, headed the champions level on 33 minutes.
A Paulo Dybala penalty on 53 minutes doubled Juve’s lead and Sami Khedira’s maiden league goal for the Turin giants sealed the points just after the hour.
Later Sunday, Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain has the chance to go top of Serie A’s scoring charts away to AC Milan in one of two late games. Higuain, who has scored five so far, sits one behind Sampdoria striker Eder.