Walter Samuel lit the touchpaper on
the fieriest of Milan derbies, and
stood back as ten-man Inter Milan
rode out a controversial 90 minutes
to heap further woe on AC Milan
coach Massimiliano Allegri with a
1-0 victory .
All eyes had been on Inter striker
Antonio Cassano, who had switched
sides at the San Siro before the start
of the Serie A season, but it was
veteran centre-back Samuel who
won the game for the Nerazzurri
with a headed goal in the third
minute.
Riccardo Montolivo was denied the
chance to restore parity courtesy of a
controversial call from referee Paolo
Valeri, but AC Milan only had
themselves to blame for failing to
capitalise when Yuto Nagatomo's
dismissal put Inter on the back foot
for much of the second half.
The 'Derby della Madonnina'
traditionally allows both Milan clubs
to put their domestic travails on hold
in the pursuit of bragging rights in
Lombardy, but such a toothless
display from the Rossoneri could
have more wide-reaching
consequences for Allegri.
Serie A champions Juventus needed
a late winner from Claudio Marchisio
to see off bottom team Siena with a
2-1 win at the Stadio Artemio
Franchi on Sunday afternoon.
Andrea Pirlo gave the Bianconeri
the lead with an early free-kick, but
the league leaders were pegged
back in first-half stoppage time by
Emanuele Calaio's equaliser.
However, the visitors refused to
settle for the draw and secured all
three points five minutes from time
when Marchisio volleyed home the
winner.
Napoli joined Juventus at the top of
Serie A with a hard-earned 2-1 win
over Udinese at the Stadio San
Paolo.
Marek Hamsik gave Walter
Mazzarri's side the lead in the 31st
minute, but Giampiero Pinzi
responded for the Zebrette, who
simply would not lie down.
But Goran Pandev restored the home
side's lead on the stroke of half time
and they defended resolutely
throughout the second half to pick
up their sixth win in seven Serie A
matches, leaving Udinese struggling
in the bottom half of the table with
only one win all season.
Roma bounced back from their 4-1
defeat to Juventus a week ago to
pick up all three points at the
expense of Atalanta, winning 2-0 at
the Stadio Olimpico.
Erik Lamela and Michael Bradley got
the goals as Zdenek Zeman's side
responded to recent criticism to
edge up the Serie A table.
It was not all easy going, though,
and Atalanta were unfortunate not
to go in front before the opening
goal after half an hour, but their
challenge faded after the hour mark
when Bradley's goal left them with a
mountain to climb. As a result,
Atalanta were beaten for the second
week in a row to remain in a
precarious position near the foot of
the table.
Stevan Jovetic's early goal earned
Fiorentina a 1-0 victory at home to
Bologna. The Montenegrin forward
tapped home from close range after
the ball broke to him in the seventh
minute. Luca Toni also had an effort
ruled out for offside as the hosts
dominated proceedings.
The win lifted Fiorentina to the
verge of the European places with
Bologna still in mid-table.
Pescara 's mini-revival was ended in
emphatic fashion as Lazio ran out
comfortable 3-0 winners at Stadio
Adriatico.
The hosts had won two and drawn
one of their last three matches
having opened the campaign with
three straight defeats, but had no
answers today as Lazio put them to
the sword on the back of a rampant
first-half display.
A Hernanes free-kick and a brace by
Miroslav Klose had the match won
inside 35 minutes for the capital
club, who remain well on the coat-
tails of the league leaders after
securing a fifth win from seven
games.
Ivo Pulga started started life in the
Cagliari hot seat with a 1-0 win -
and a first of the season at that - as
Nene`s goal 16 minutes from time
saw off Torino.
Pulga is an iconic figure in Sardinia
having been a back-to-back
promotion winner as a player, and
he was this week given the task of
working some magic on the other
side of the touchline following the
dismissal of Massimo Ficcadenti.
Catania made it another trip to
Sicily to forget for 10-man Parma as
goals from Alejandro Gomez and
Gonzalo Bergessio sealed a
comfortable 2-0 victory .
Without a competitive win at the
Stadio Angelo Massimino in their
history, Parma were always facing
an uphill battle to register their first
win in five Serie A outings.
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