European football: Lazio maintain strong start with win over Monza

Nuno Tavares fires Lazio ahead. Photograph: Riccardo Antimiani/EPAView image in fullscreenNuno Tavares fires Lazio ahead. Photograph: Riccardo Antimiani/EPAEuropean football: Lazio join Inter at top of Serie A as Roma held at ComoGattuso’s side ease to 3-1 win against 10-man Monza

Roma frustrated after goalless draw away at Como

Lazio moved level on points with Inter at the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win over Monza on Sunday as 10-man Roma played out the first goalless draw of the Italian season at Como.

Under Gennaro Gattuso, who has bounced back after his failure at the helm of the Italian national side who missed out on the 2026 World Cup, Lazio continued their strong start to the season. Still unbeaten, the Roman outfit secured a fifth victory in six matches to pull level on 16 points with Inter, who beat Parma 3-0 at San Siro on Saturday.

Read moreNuno Tavares gave Lazio a third-minute lead and Gustav Isaksen doubled it midway through the first half. Monza had Lorenzo Lucchesi sent off on 35 minutes for hauling down Tijjani Noslin as he broke through on goal, but the 16th-placed visitors rattled Lazio after the break, pulling a goal back and coming close to equalising before conceding a third goal in the closing stages.

Roma left Como frustrated, having managed only a single point. The dismissal of league top scorer Donyell Malen for a dangerous tackle early in the second half forced them to scale back their ambitions. Neither team could find the breakthrough in a clash between two sides widely regarded as dark horses for the title, leaving Inter and Lazio two points clear of Roma after their respective wins over Parma and Monza.

“We played two-thirds of the match a man down, that is the disappointing thing,” Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini told DAZN. “We were confident we had an excellent chance, but we were forced to defend with 10 men, and we did so with order and clarity. When you play 30 minutes with 10 men and come away with a draw, that is fine.”

Bologna picked up their first win of the season by beating Lecce 2-1. Later, Milan go to Sassuolo before surprise package Cagliari welcome Juventus to the Unipol Domus in the late kick-off.

Borussia Mönchengladbach remained rock bottom of the German Bundesliga after a 2-1 defeat to local rivals Cologne on Sunday, in a match overshadowed by ugly scenes on the terraces.

The game was suspended for several minutes and riot police surrounded the away block after Gladbach fans appeared to fire fireworks into the home sections after Said El Mala’s superb second-half winner. That maintained pointless Gladbach’s miserable start to the season as new coach Alexander Blessin failed to prevent the club falling to their fifth defeat in as many games.