Former Chelsea and Barcelona Star Pedro Stars for Lazio As Inter Milan’s Perfect Start Comes to Crashing Halt

• Lazio ended Inter Milan's perfect start to the new season in style after putting in a dominant display in front of their home fans on Friday
• The Maurizio Sarri-coached side ran out 3-1 winners to ascend to the top of the Serie A table momentarily
• Pedro and Luis Alberto came off the bench to win the game for Lazio with two well-taken goals

Lazio's spirited performance stopped Inter Milan from extending their perfect start to the new Serie A season with a 3-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday night.

It is the first time that Lazio has recorded back-to-back home wins in the season's first two games since 2015/2016. They had beaten Bologna on the opening day of the Serie A.

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Inter Milan, on the other hand, were looking to set an early tone for the season with three successive wins, but it wasn't meant to be. Simone Inzaghi suffered yet another defeat on his return to his former side.

Lazio dominated proceedings from the early stages as Inter Milan struggled to conjure up anything meaningful in the Lazio area. Dangerman Ciro Immobile had a sniff at goal in the 15th minute but saw his shot go slightly wide of Samir Handanović's goal.

Inter Milan's usual tormentor-in-chief Sergej Milinković-Savić was a thorn in the flesh the whole evening. Just before halftime, the Serbian playmaker floated a delicious ball into the penalty area.

Lautaro Martinez cancelled out Felipe Anderson's opener

Felipe Anderson evaded his marker to head in the ball past Handanovic to give Lazio a deserved lead. Lautaro Martinez restored parity after the break with some quick thinking after some sustained pressure from the Nerazzurri.

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But it, however, took Maurizio's Sarri piece of a tactical switch to turn the tide in Lazio's favour. Sarri introduced Luis Alberto and Pedro, who turned out to be the matchwinners for his side.

It started with Pedro being unselfish with a clear line to goal in the 75th minute. The former Chelsea winger laid it off to Luis Albero, who was positioned just outside the box. Alberto unleashed a rocket of a shot that Handanovic could do nothing about.

Two minutes to the end of regular time, Immobile thought he had been fouled in the box, but the referee played advantage. And to Pedro's credit, he sent in a curler to automatically put the game beyond Inter Milan's reach.

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Roma will enter the competition as the defending champions of the Conference League, having beaten Feyenoord in the inaugural final last season.

Jose Mourinho made history by becoming the first manager to win all the European titles and he will be attempting to win a second Europa League, having won his first with Manchester United.