Lazio go third as AC Milan stall Roma
milan — Champions Juventus’ Serie A game was snowed off on Sunday as Lazio moved third with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo at the expense of AS Roma who were beaten 2-0 by AC Milan.
Juventus are a point behind leaders Napoli, who play Cagliari in Sardinia later on Monday, and had been looking to move top against Atalanta in Turin but for blizzard-like conditions which saw five centimetres of snow pile up before kick-off.
“It’s possible to play in these conditions, but it would not be a spectacle worthy of the top flight. There is also the issue of potential harm to the players,” said Juventus director Beppe Marotta.
Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic continued their goal-scoring sprees to lift Lazio into third, as Patrick Cutrone and Davide Calabria gave AC Milan their first win in the Stadio Olimpico in six years.
Roma — who had been on a three-match Serie A winning streak — slipped to fifth behind Inter Milan who beat bottom side Benevento 2-0 on Saturday, with AC Milan just outside the European places in seventh.
“Obviously it’s a wake up call,” said Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco, of the defeat which came just days after throwing away a lead to lose 2-1 to Shakhtar Donetesk in the Champions League.
“We cannot be happy with this result, nor our season overall. We completely lost our way after the first goal.”
Cutrone broke through after the break, with defender Calabria adding the second after 74 minutes.
Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma — celebrating his 19th birthday — did well to parry an early Cengiz Under strike, and also cleared a close range Patrik Schick effort over the bar.
“It’s an important win, one that will make a difference,” said Cutrone, crediting coach Gennaro Gattuso with transforming the team. “We are really united now and proving we are a great team. The coach really cares about the squad and we’ve come together under him.”
AC Milan play Lazio in the Stadio Olympico in the Italian Cup semifinal on Wednesday before next weekend’s derby against Inter Milan. Gattuso’s side are also through to the Europa League round of 16 where they meet Arsenal. —