Inconsistent AC Milan loses at Sampdoria, Inter and Lazio win

AC Milan's problems with consistency continued as a poor performance saw it lose 2-0 at Sampdoria in Serie A on Sunday.

Milan didn't even have a shot on target as late goals from Duvan Zapata and substitute Ricky Alvarez condemned the Rossoneri to its second defeat of the season.

"Samp was superior to us and deserved the victory," Milan coach Vincenzo Montella said. "We didn't perform. We were insufficient on a mental level and in our determination as well as technically.

"It's a defeat which hurts us and we will have to understand why it happened. We'll need to analyze everything without hiding ourselves."

Milan slipped to sixth, six points behind leaders Napoli and Juventus.

Inter Milan is two points below the top two after a narrow 1-0 victory over Genoa, with Lazio three points further back after beating Hellas Verona 3-0.

There was a huge scare for Milan in the second minute as the referee awarded a penalty to Sampdoria for handball but changed his mind after video review, as Franck Kessie's arm was against his back when it was hit by Ivan Strinic's cross.

Sampdoria had a number of chances before eventually breaking the deadlock in the 72nd. Milan defender Cristian Zapata inadvertently nodded an attempted clearance straight at his cousin, Duvan Zapata, who fired it in from six yards (meters).

Alvarez sealed the result in stoppage time, seconds after coming off the bench.

UNCONVINCING INTER

Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic pulled off a number of saves before a late goal helped the Nerazzurri secure a 1-0 win over Genoa, which ended the match with nine men. Inter had lost its perfect record midweek in a surprise 1-1 draw against Bologna so needed a win to keep up the pressure on Napoli and Juventus. It was Genoa which had the better of the chances, although Inter did hit the post through Marcelo Brozovic on the stroke of halftime.

However, Inter scored what was to prove the winner three minutes from time when Danilo D'Ambrosio headed in a corner.

"There's still a bit of difference with Juventus and Napoli, we have to narrow the gap by reconsolidating the certainties which should belong to a great club like Inter," coach Luciano Spalletti said.

Genoa players Stephane Omeonga and Adel Taarabt were shown straight red cards within minutes of each other in stoppage

Lega Pro A

Yesterday Cuneo-Pisa ..................................... 0-1 Monza-Carrarese ............................ 4-0 Olbia-Pontedera .............................. 2-0 Piacenza-Arzachena ........................ 2-1 Siena-Alessandria ............................ 0-0 Viterbese-Giana Erminio ................. 2-3 Livorno-Pistoiese ............................. 2-0 Prato-Gavorrano ............................. 1-0 Today Arezzo-Lucchese time. Omeonga was ejected for bringing down Eder and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and Taarabt for a two-footed tackle on Yann Karamoh.

Lega Pro B Yesterday AlbinoLeffe-Gubbio ......................... 2-1 Mestre-Triestina ............................. 2-1 Pordenone-Teramo ......................... 4-2 Sudtirol-Bassano ............................. 1-2 Vicenza-FeralpiSalo ......................... 1-1 Sambenedettese-Padova ................ 0-1 Renate-Reggiana ............................. 1-0 Santarcangelo-Fermana .................. 1-5 Yesterday Sampdoria-AC Milan ...................... 2-0 Zapata 72’, Alvarez 90+1’ Cagliari-Chievo ............................... 0-2 Inglese 53’, Stepinski 90+3’ Crotone-Benevento ....................... 2-0 Mandragora 43’, Rohden 58’ Inter-Genoa .................................. 1-0 D’Ambrosio 88’ Verona-Lazio .................................. 0-3 Immobile 24’, 41’, Marusic 60’ Sassuolo-Bologna .......................... 0-1 Okwonko 89’ Fiorentina-Atalanta ....................... 1-1 Chiesa 12’ (F), Freuler 90+4’ (A)

Standings

Napoli Juventus Inter Lazio AS Roma AC Milan Sampdoria Torino Atalanta Chievo Bologna Fiorentina Cagliari Spal Sassuolo Crotone Udinese Genoa Verona Benevento Serie B 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 6 8 10 10 7 5 9 4 5 3 3 8 5 1 1 4 11 9 11 8 8 7 8 8 11 9 11 13 10 14 16 8 8 8 7 6 4 4 4 3 2 2 0

Yesterday Cesena-Ascoli .................................. 0-2 Today Palermo-Pro Vercelli