Milan’s problems with consistency continued as a poor performance saw it lose 2-0 at Sampdoria in Serie A on Sunday. Milan didn’t even have a shot on target as late goals from Duván Zapata and substitute Ricky Álvarez condemned the Rossoneri to their second defeat of the season.
“Samp were superior to us and deserved the victory,” the Milan coach Vincenzo Montella said. “We didn’t perform. We were insufficient on a mental level and in our determination as well as technically. It’s a defeat which hurts us and we will have to understand why it happened. We’ll need to analyse everything without hiding ourselves.”
Milan slipped to sixth, six points behind leaders Napoli and Juventus. Internazionale are two points behind the top two after a narrow 1-0 victory over Genoa, with Lazio three points further back after beating Hellas Verona 3-0.
There was a huge scare for Milan in the second minute as the referee awarded a penalty to Sampdoria for handball but changed his mind after a video review, as Franck Kessie’s arm was against his back when it was hit by Ivan Strinic’s cross.
Sampdoria had a number of chances before eventually breaking the deadlock in the 72nd. Milan defender Cristián Zapata inadvertently nodded an attempted clearance straight at his cousin, Duván Zapata, who fired it in from six yards. Álvarez sealed the result in stoppage time, seconds after coming off the bench.
The Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic pulled off a number of saves before a late goal helped the Nerazzurri secure a 1-0 win over Genoa, which ended the match with nine men.
Inter had lost their perfect record midweek in a surprise 1-1 draw against Bologna so needed a win to keep up the pressure on Napoli and Juventus. It was Genoa which had the better of the chances, although Inter did hit the post through Marcelo Brozovic on the stroke of halftime.
Genoa players Stephane Omeonga and Adel Taarabt were shown straight red cards within minutes of each other in stoppage time. Omeonga was ejected for bringing down Eder and denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, and Taarabt for a two-footed tackle on Yann Karamoh.However, Inter scored what was to prove the winner three minutes from time when Danilo D’Ambrosio headed in a corner. “There’s still a bit of difference with Juventus and Napoli, we have to narrow the gap by reconsolidating the certainties which should belong to a great club like Inter,” the coach Luciano Spalletti said.
Ciro Immobile maintained his impressive scoring streak as he netted another two goals to help Lazio win 3-0 at Verona and bounce back from its hefty midweek defeat to Napoli.
Both Immobile’s goals came in the first half, opening the scoring from the penalty spot after Adam Marusic was tripped by Samuel Souprayen. His second was a stunning solo goal as he weaved his way past two Verona defenders before firing into the far bottom corner for his 11th goal in all competitions for Lazio this season.
On Saturday Barcelona swept past Girona 3-0 for their sixth successive win of the new La Liga campaign, with two own goals helping their cause.
Francisco Aday and Gorka Iraizoz put through their own net as the Catalan giants secured a victory that cemented their four-point lead at the top of the table.
Luis Suárez powered home his 87th Barcelona goal on his 100th club appearance after the break, and even prompted Iraizoz’s own goal with a cute stepover.
Barcelona’s victory restored a four-point lead over second-placed Atlético Madrid, with big rivals Real Madrid trailing by seven. Dani Ceballos fired a debut double to ease pressure on Zinedine Zidane as Real edged out Alavés 2-1.
Former Betis midfielder Ceballos capped his league debut for Real with a smart first-half double that set Zidane’s men back to winning ways.
Diego Costa watched Atlético Madrid’s 2-0 win over Sevilla from the stands following his return to the capital club from Chelsea. Atlético’s transfer ban means Costa cannot take the field until January, but he could at least revel in the club’s form on Saturday. Yannick Carrasco set Atlético en route to a third straight LaLiga win, breaking the deadlock after a goalless first half. Diego Rolan’s late strike scrambled 10-man Malaga a 3-3 draw with Athletic Bilbao.
A quick-fire hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang added to a first-half double from Maximilian Philipp put the visitors to the sword and earned unbeaten Dortmund a fifth win from six league games this season.In Germany Borussia Dortmund powered two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a thumping 6-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Victory moved Dortmund two points clear of Hoffenheim and three ahead of Bayern Munich, who surrendered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Wolfsburg on Friday night.
Earlier on Saturday, Hoffenheim maintained their impressive start to the campaign with a 2-0 win over Schalke. RB Leipzig bounced back from defeat at Augsburg in midweek with a 2-1 win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Pablo De Blasis’ 54th-minute penalty earned Mainz a 1-0 win at home to Hertha Berlin, who had captain Vedad Ibisevic sent off in the 89th minute, apparently for dissent. Struggling pair Werder Bremen and Freiburg are still waiting for their first wins of the campaign after a 0-0 draw, while the match between Stuttgart and Augsburg also finished goalless.
Juventus kept pace with Napoli at the top of Serie A with a thumping 4-0 win against 10-man derby rivals Torino.
Paulo Dybala maintained his impressive strike rate this season and Miralem Pjanic added a fine second to put Juve in total control at half-time after Torino defender Daniele Baselli had been sent off.
Alex Sandro added Juve’s third with a bullet header just before the hour-mark and Dybala capped another impressive display with a late second as Juve cruised to a seventh successive home league win against their Turin rivals.
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