Serie A wrap: More woes for Milan, Inter

23 September 2012 18:00

AC Milan were condemned to a second consecutive Serie A defeat on Sunday, while city rivals Inter were beaten at home by Siena.

Udinese handed Milan a 2-1 loss thanks to Antonio Di Natale's winner after dramatic scenes saw Massimiliano Allegri's men finish the match with nine men following red cards to Kevin-Prince Boateng and Cristian Zapata.

Milan went into the match on the back of a shock defeat to Atalanta and a dull goalless draw in their opening UEFA Champions League match against Anderlecht midweek.

And several changes made to the starting line-up seemed to revitalise Milan, with the visitors dominating the early moments.

However, Udinese found their feet and took the lead five minutes before the interval after Mathias Ranegie rose highest in the Milan penalty area to head home.

Udinese create a number of chances following the restart but promising youngster Stephen El Sharaawy continued to cause plenty of headaches and he eventually levelled proceedings nine minutes into the second half.

Despite the equaliser, Milan were unable to gain control of the match and they were soon reduced to 10 men after Zapata was shown red for a second bookable offence in the penalty area, which Di Natale converted on 68 minutes.

Matters soon worsened for Allegri and his under-performing side when Boateng, only on as a second-half substitute, received his marching orders following a second yellow card.

Meanwhile, Inter slumped to their second home defeat of the season, losing 2-0 to mid-table side Siena courtesy of second-half goals from Simone Vergassola and Francesco Valiani.

After a goalless opening period, Vergassola broke into the box and combined with Ze Eduardo before unleashing his shot past Samir Handanovic.

And the visitors secured all three points through Valiani deep into stoppage time.

Both Milan sides have now failed to win at the San Siro in eight attempts this Serie A season.

In other results on Sunday, an 88th-minute strike from Cristian Raimondi was enough to give Atalanta a 1-0 win at home to winless Palermo.

Nicola Pozzi stepped up to convert a penalty six minutes from time as Sampdoria earned a 1-1 draw against Torino in a battle of the newly promoted sides, Pescara held Bologna to a 1-1 stalemate, Catania and Napoli played out a goalless draw at the Stadio Angelo Massimino, while Cagliari's home encounter with Roma was postponed.

In the late match, third-placed Lazio suffered their first league defeat of the season, going down 1-0 to Genoa at the Stadio Olimpicio.

The only goal came from striker Marco Borriello, who scored his first of the campaign in the 77th minute after he ran on to a flicked-on Luca Antonelli pass, surged forward and drilled past Federico Marchetti's outstretched hand.

Allegri dismisses quit rumours

22 September 2012 16:34

Massimiliano Allegri has quashed rumours he would tender his resignation as AC Milan coach.

Allegri has responded to the speculation, saying he sees such stories as disrespectful to the fans and the culture of the club.

AC Milan have had a slow start to the Serie A season, with just three points from their first three games in Italy's top flight and a scoreless draw in their Champions League opener against Anderlecht on Tuesday.

Reports about Allegri's supposed resignation emerged midweek but the head coach has been quick to dismiss them ahead of the clash at Stadio Friuli.

Speaking at a press conference, Allegri said: "I read about my alleged resignation in some newspapers and want to say that I have not resigned, and this story shows a lack of respect to the club and the fans. This is not an easy time but we are trying to improve.

"When I started this year, after the summer sales, I accepted this challenge with great enthusiasm and determination, and we will get better."

Milan sit 10th in the table ahead of a trip to Udinese on Sunday.

Allegri wary of Udinese

22 September 2012 14:42

Massimiliano Allegri has insisted that AC Milan will not take this weekend's Serie A game at fellow strugglers Udinese lightly.

The Rossoneri have been in disappointing form in recent weeks, collecting only three points from as many matches, and the 44-year-old is determined to keep on working hard in order to climb up the table.

"We have to continue working like we’ve been doing until now. Sunday will be a tough game like all the others," Allegri said at a press conference.

"Udinese have a lot of potential and they played a great game last night in the Europa League. We’ll have to prepare well like we always do. We never underestimate an adversary.

"What we’ve done so far hasn’t been enough. We’re missing a little something and we’re working to bring us back to normality.

"But I think that when we’re not winning, the situation can be looked upon as even darker than it really is."

Serie A preview: Sampdoria prepare for Torino test

21 September 2012 08:37

Sampdoria are set to face Torino without midfielder Andrea Poli in the next round of Serie A after the 22-year-old injured his thigh.

Poli tore a thigh muscle in Sampdoria's 3-2 victory over Pescara and scans this week have revealed he will miss a month of football.

Head coach Ciro Ferrara will be hopeful the left winger's absence will not derail the club's fine start to the season.

Sampdoria have begun their return season in Serie A with three consecutive victories and would be equal on points with league-leaders Juventus but for a one-point penalty as part of Italy's match-fixing scandal.

The Genoa-based club host Torino on Sunday to complete successive games against the other two recently promoted sides in Serie A, and Sampdoria will most likely rely on their defence in a bid to secure victory.

Sampdoria have conceded one goal per game, although Torino are in even better defensive form having been breached just twice.

Juventus will host 13th-placed Chievo Verona on Saturday as they try to extend their unbeaten league streak to 43 games, which stretches back to May 15, 2011.

Napoli and Lazio are the other sides still with a 100 percent record and will try to maintain it against Catania and Genoa respectively.

Catania will have to be wary of Lazio's twin-pronged attack of Miroslav Klose and Hernanes, who have both scored three goals out of the team's total of seven so far this season.

AC Milan's poor start to the season continued in the Champions League mid-week, as they drew 0-0 at home against Belgium's Anderlecht, but Massimiliano Allegri will hope they can turn it around away to Udinese this week.

Having lost Kwadwo Asamoah and Mauricio Isla to Juventus during the off-season, Udinese are struggling and have yet to register a victory this season.

In other Serie A matches, Atalanta host Palermo, Pescara head to Bologna and Inter face Siena.