Rome: Diego Milito ended his scoring drought with two goals to help European champion Inter Milan rout Bari 4-0 on Wednesday and take sole possession of the Serie A lead.
Milito scored nearly all of Inter's key goals when the club won a treble of titles last season but had gone scoreless in the Nerazzurri's opening six games in all competitions this campaign.
The Argentine finally found the target following a setup from Samuel Eto'o in the 27th minute at the San Siro, Eto'o converted from the spot in the 50th and 63rd, and Milito added another to finish off a counterattack in the 86th.
"Sometimes you go through rough stretches, it happens to all strikers. It's tough to explain, I just know that you come out of it through hard work, like I've done," Milito said. "Now I hope I don't stop scoring."
City rival AC Milan, meanwhile, was held to a 1-1 draw at Lazio, despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring his first Serie A goal since transferring back to Italy from Barcelona. AS Roma also continued to struggle, ending with 10 men in a 2-1 loss at Brescia.
Newly promoted Cesena, which came into the game with a share of the lead, conceded its first goals of the season in a 2-0 defeat at Catania. With its third successive win, Inter moved to 10 points, one in front of Brescia and Chievo Verona, which beat Napoli 3-1. Milan is already five points behind, while last season's runner-up Roma trails by eight points.
Also, it was: Bologna 2, Udinese 1; Cagliari 0, Sampdoria 0; Genoa 1, Fiorentina 1; and Lecce 1, Parma 1.
Juventus hosts Palermo on Thursday and Inter visits Roma on Saturday in a matchup of last season's top two clubs, with the players' association having suspended a strike planned for this weekend.
In Milan, Bari started strongly — with Sergio Almiron hitting the post 20 seconds in — but Milito and Eto'o proved too much to handle.
Eto'o carried the ball into the area and set up an easy header for Milito then calmly struck two penalties before Dejan Stankovic provided the pass that led to Milito's second goal.
Eto'o raised his scoring total to eight goals in seven games in all competitions and Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder returned after missing Sunday's win over Palermo due to a foot injury.
At the Stadio Olimpico, Ibrahimovic created several chances early on and finally scored in the 66th, slipping behind the defense and dribbling past Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Lazio's new Brazilian midfielder Hernanes was a constant threat, however, and provided the cross for Sergio Floccari to equalize from the edge of the area in the 81st.
Milan's other new striker, Robinho, came on only for the final three minutes.
In Brescia, the hosts took the lead in the 13th with a volley from Perparin Hetemaj following a cross from Andrea Caracciolo, who then added a penalty in the 64th when Roma defender Philippe Mexes was sent off.
Newly signed Marco Borriello pulled one back for Roma in the 84th but Roma sorely missed captain Francesco Totti and key midfielder Daniele de Rossi, who were both out with injuries.
The Giallorossi are yet to win in six fixtures this season. Making matters worse, goalkeeper Julio Sergio was forced to play the final minutes in tears due to an apparent right ankle injury, with Roma having already used all its substitutions.
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