Inter Beats Venezia 2-0, Bologna Shocks Milan

Inter Milan players celebrated after winning the Serie A match against Venezia at Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium in Venice on October 28, 2026.

Inter Milan climbed back to the top of Serie A with a tense 2-0 victory over bottom-placed Venezia on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bologna stunned AC Milan with a 4-2 win at San Siro, handing Milan their first league defeat of the season.

Matias Moreno and Redouane Halhal scored own goals within two minutes. Their blunders secured Inter's win and kept Venezia at the bottom of the league.

After a thrilling comeback against Fiorentina on Sunday, Inter thought they might need another fightback. Lion Lauberbach nearly put Venezia ahead after 29 minutes, but his goal was disallowed for offside. Inter's goalkeeper Ivan Provedel helped keep the match scoreless at halftime by deflecting a shot from Lauberbach off the bar.

Venezia has only three points this season but seemed more likely to score. Gianluca Busio missed a clear chance from 12 yards, while Akor Adams rounded Provedel to score, but the offside flag again saved Inter.

Inter coach Cristian Chivu said the team's shaky performance was not the best preparation for the upcoming derby. "We go into that game with eight wins and a draw and are aware that it is a derby," Chivu told Sky Sport.

"We need to regain mental and physical energy. I’m talking about some players I had to substitute at halftime as a wake-up call (Petar Sucic, Aleksandar Stankovic, and Yann Bisseck). If I could have, I would have changed the entire team."

Inter is now level with Lazio on 25 points at the top of the league ahead of the highly anticipated Milan derby on Saturday.

Ruben Amorim’s Bologna will face Inter after ending their unbeaten run. Alphadjo Cisse scored twice, but it was not enough to prevent a loss that left Milan in fifth place with 18 points.

Last season’s Serie B champions surprised Napoli with a win in new coach Davide Nicola’s debut. They looked set for another upset but lost late in the match.

At San Siro, Bologna faced a tough situation with injuries to players like Adrien Rabiot, Diego Moreira, and Mario Gila. The Milan coach also kept Christian Pulisic and Luka Modric on the bench.

Bologna's Mbangula, making his full debut, scored the opener just eight minutes in. However, Bologna quickly conceded when Arthur Theate's mistake allowed Cisse to score easily.

Cisse struck again in the 27th minute, volleying a cross from Fikayo Tomori. But Bologna turned the game around in two quick minutes in the second half, shocking the San Siro crowd.

Davide Bartesaghi scored an own goal from a free-kick, then Mbangula scored again with a composed finish in the box just after the hour mark.

The 22-year-old completed a memorable night with another goal four minutes from full-time after Bologna regained possession in midfield.

“A lot of games, a lot of players out,” Amorim told DAZN.

“I felt from the first minute that the team was a little bit tired and without much energy. We conceded two goals quickly; we tried to come back, and we had a great opportunity with (Francesco) Camarda. This number of games was hard for us, with so many players out.”

Bologna secured back-to-back wins for the first time this season, moving into 11th place with 11 points.

In other news, Adrian Bernabe's penalty was saved by Maduka Okoye as Parma and Udinese ended in a goalless draw. Later, Juventus and Napoli will visit Genoa and Monza respectively.