Balotelli misses penalty in Milan defeat
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E-mail Xinhua, September 23, 2013
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Gonzalo Higuain enjoys his effort for Napoli. |
Napoli beat AC Milan 2-1 on Sunday to score their first win at San Siro in 27 years.
Napoli travelled to San Siro on the back of a confidence-boosting 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, but they showed no signs of a continental hangover by leaving Milan with all three points.
Miguel Britos put Napoli ahead in the sixth minute, with Gonzalo Higuain adding the second after the break.
Mario Balotelli failed to score a penalty for the first time in his professional career as Pepe Reina denied him, and although the Italian did get a goal in spectacular style late on, Rafael Benitez's side held on to the win, their first at San Siro since 1986.
The defeat was compounded for Milan after the final whistle when Balotelli was shown a red card, with his dismissal appearing to be for dissent.
AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri bemoaned his side's bad luck in the game.
"It was in a way our best performance of the Serie A season so far. We were lucky to get back the 2-2 draw at Torino, so we paid for that good fortune this time around," he said.
"People said Milan were lucky at Torino, so tonight we were unlucky, as Mario Balotelli didn't convert a penalty and we hit the bar too. If we had converted that penalty, then perhaps we had time to get the match back on level terms. We have to improve at the back, as we can't think of winning games when we concede an average of two per match," he said.
His Napoli counterpart Rafa Benitez admitted it wasn't Napoli's best game of the season, but "a coach has to be happy" when winning at San Siro.
"We worked together as a team tonight and that was very important, as if you have that then the quality players get the chance to shine," he said.
"Milan played well, so it wasn't easy for us to counter Balotelli's position between the lines. We needed to make adjustments and are at the start of this journey, so we need to improve many things, but winning away to Milan a coach has to be happy," he said.
Roma beat 10-man Lazio 2-0 thanks to two goals from the second half of the Rome derby.
Roma, who failed to beat their cross-city rivals in their previous five meetings, went ahead in the 63rd minute thanks to a goal from Federico Balzaretti.
Lazio made life harder for them with nine minutes to go when substitute Andre Dias was shown a straight red for a last-man challenge on Francesco Totti.
Substitute Adam Ljajic then wrapped up the win for Roma when he earned an converted a penalty deep in stoppage time after he was brought down by Cristian Ledesma.
The result, Roma's fourth consecutive win in Serie A, lifted them to the top of the standings.
Roma head coach Rudi Garcia, who maintained a perfect record in Serie A, explained why his side scored all their goals after the break this season.
"During the first half our opponents pushed harder, but Lazio played three days ago in the Europa League and I was sure they'd feel a dip in fitness levels. I know this because I played in Europe for four years. We played very well in the second half," he said.
"It might be important that Milan, Juventus, Napoli and Fiorentina are playing in Europe, which takes up energy, so it's an advantage for us that this season we're not in those competitions," he said.
Fernando Llorente scored on his Serie A start as Juventus beat Verona 2-1.
The hosts, despite dominating the early exchanges, fell behind in the 36th minute as Fabrizio Cacciatore knocked home from close range.
Carlos Tevez, who had squandered an earlier chance, equalized in style five minutes before the break and then Llorente nodded in right at the end of the first period.
Inter's resurgence following a torrid campaign last year continued against Sassuolo, as they ran riot against the promoted side to win 7-0 away from home.
Rodrigo Palacio broke the deadlock early on with his third goal of the season before Spahir Taider and a Raffaele Pucino own goal ensured a 3-0 lead at the break.
Ricky Alvarez added a fourth before his Argentinian compatriots Esteban Cambiasso and Diego Milito completed the rout, with the latter scoring twice on his return from injury.
Fiorentina remained in the top three thanks to a 2-0 win at Atalanta, the hosts' third defeat of the season.
Meanwhile, Torino made a significant move up the table thanks to a 2-1 triumph at Bologna, while Parma and Catania remain in the bottom three after their 0-0 draw.
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