Mourinho gets going at Madrid, Inter starts with a win and Man United loses
Inter Milan got its title defense off to a near-perfect start with a 4-1 win over newly-promoted Monza in Serie A
MILAN -- Inter Milan got its title defense off to a near-perfect start with a 4-1 win over newly-promoted Monza in Serie A on Saturday.
In Spain later, José Mourinho was set to take charge of his first match back at Real Madrid — away at Espanyol.
Elsewhere in Europe, Manchester United lost 2-0 at newly-promoted Hull in the Premier League, while in France, last season’s runner-up Lens comfortably beat Auxerre 5-2.
Esposito shines from the start
Inter forward Pio Esposito had a breakout season last campaign and the 21-year-old started right where he left off for the Nerazzurri.
An impressive backheel flick from Esposito put Inter 3-1 up in early in the second half and Yann Bisseck added a fourth shortly afterwards.
Inter got off to a great start when a fierce long-range shot from Hakan Çalhanoğlu gave it the lead in the sixth minute. But sloppy defending for Monza’s equalizer showed just why Inter signed England defenders Djed Spence and John Stones in the offseason.
Stones came on late on while Spence was in the stands along with England teammate Curtis Jones, who completed his move to Inter on Friday.
Piotr Zieliński and Yann Bisseck scored Inter’s other goals. Inter dominated Italian soccer last season, winning both the league and the cup in Cristian Chivu’s first year in charge.
Elsewhere in Italy, Como — which surprised with a fourth-place finish last season — was held to a 1-1 draw at Udinese.
Hull stuns Man United
Hull made a dream return to the Premier League after a nine-year absence, beating Manchester United 2-0 to puncture any preseason optimism surrounding the 20-time champions.
First-half goals from Semi Ajayi and Nobel Mendy at set-pieces consigned United to a tepid loss away to a team that was promoted via the second-tier Championship playoffs at the end of last season and is widely expected to be among the relegation candidates.
Tottenham, one of the biggest spenders in Europe this summer with $300 million — and counting — of new players in its squad, was overwhelmed in a 3-0 defeat at Brentford.
Auxerre self destructs
Auxerre gave away two penalties and also played most of the match with 10 men after defender Christ Makosso was shown a straight red card for a foul on Abadallah Sima in the 35th minute.
Florian Thauvin converted both penalties – the second one at the second time of asking after Auxerre goalkeeper Mamadou Diop saved the initial attempt but was off his line.
All of Lens goals, apart from Thauvin’s first 12th-minute penalty, came in the second half.
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