Dismal Milan lose at Sampdoria in Serie A

Sep 24, 2017 - 9:56 PM Sampdoria, deprived of an early penalty when the referee changed his mind after consulting the video ref, scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat a dismal AC Milan 2-0 in Serie A.

Danilo D'Ambrosio headed an 87th-minute goal as Inter Milan snatched a 1-0 win over Genoa, who lost their heads and had two players sent off, while Ciro Immobile continued his prolific run with another brace in Lazio's 3-0 win at struggling Verona.

Crotone won their first game of the season on Sunday, beating Serie A newcomers Benevento, who slumped to their sixth straight defeat.

Rolando Mandragora and Marcus Rohden scored in a 2-0 win for last season's escape artists.

Atalanta missed a second-half penalty at Fiorentina when Alejandro Gomez saw his effort stopped by Marco Sportiello but grabbed a 1-1 draw after Remo Freuler scored with the last kick of the game.

Inter have won five of their six games and are third with 16 points, two behind Juventus and Napoli who both have a maximum 18 points after winning on Saturday.

"It was not a good performance from any aspect," said Milan coach Vincenzo Montella.

"We have to work more and understand why we failed like this."

Big-spending Milan, likely to face heavy criticism after a second successive away defeat, were quickly in trouble when Ivan Strinic's cross struck Franck Kessie's arm and the referee awarded a penalty to Sampdoria in the third minute.

However, after consulting the video, it was decidedthat the Ivorian's handball was unintentional and awarded Sampdoria a corner instead.

Milan, sixth with 12 points, failed to capitalise on that reprieve, producing a thoroughly lacklustre display as they repeatedly gave away the ball in midfield.

Sampdoria, on 11 points and unbeaten after five games, deservedly went ahead when Colombian Duvan Zapata pounced on a mistake by his cousin Cristian Zapata to score with an emphatic shot from close range in the 72nd minute.

Ricky Alvarez, brought on in the 90th minute, added the second goal almost immediately when he was sent clear and placed a low shot inside the far post from the edge of the area.

Orji Okwonkwo scored in the 89th minute to give Roberto Donadoni's Bologna a 1-0 win at Sassuolo.

Source: AAP