AC Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic slammed the
stuttering Serie A giants after a third defeat of the
season left the Rossoneri six points adrift of leaders
and bitter city rivals Inter Milan.
Milan travelled to Genoa's Luigi Ferraris stadium
looking to make it three wins in a row following 3-2
successes against Palermo and Udinese.
But the visitors were a goal down after 10 minutes
when Blerim Dzemaili beat Diego Lopez with a
deflected free-kick and Milan were reduced to 10
men when Alessio Romagnoli was sent off on the
stroke of half-time for a second bookable offence.
On what was Mario Balotelli's second start since
returning to the club and in the presence of Italy
coach Antonio Conte, the on-loan Liverpool striker
missed the target from a free-kick and then hit an
angled drive straight at goalkeeper Eugenio
Lamanna.
Milan's third reverse of the season dropped them to
10th place, and they could fall nine points behind
Inter if the leaders win their later top-of-the-table
clash at home to Fiorentina.
"In every game we play we're only playing for one
half, and that's not good enough," said Mihajlovic.
"We played better when we were down to ten men,
we had two or three chances but just couldn't
score.
"In these kind of games it's not enough to rely on
the fact we're called Milan. We have to dig deep and
be a bit more ruthless."
Fiorentina, three points behind Inter, dropped one
place to third as 10-man Torino went the other way
following a 2-1 win at home to Palermo.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men 16 minutes after
the restart when Cristian Molinaro saw red for a
second bookable offence, but the damage had
already been done.
Torino took a 44th minute lead when Giancarlo
Gonzalez got the final touch to Maxi Lopez's strike
for a Palermo own goal.
Only four minutes after the restart the Stadio
Olimpico erupted to celebrate a spectacular
candidate for goal of the season, Marco Benassi
firing a looping volley over the head of Stefano
Sorrentino from the right side of the area following
Lopez's cross-field ball from the left wing.
Palermo capitalised on Molinaro's sending-off 11
minutes later when Gonzalez rose high to meet a
deep cross from midfield and send a looping header
over Daniele Padelli in the Torino goal.
Torino sit two points behind Inter and Lazio are only
one further adrift in fifth spot after a precious 2-1
come-from-behind win at Verona.
Torino coach Giampiero Ventura said: "We're
second in the league, but more importantly we're
playing like Torino should be playing."
Verona, still without injured striker Luca Toni, took
the lead on the half hour thanks to Filip Helander
only for Lazio to complete a stirring second-half
comeback.
Second half substitute Keita Balde won a penalty on
the hour and Lucas Biglia made no mistake from the
penalty spot.
Lazio were reduced to 10 men 10 minutes from the
final whistle when defender Mauricio was cautioned
for a second bookable offence but minutes later the
visitors pulled in front.
Lazio won a free-kick on the edge of the area and
when Biglia hit a short pass to Parolo, it unsettled
the defensive wall and left Parolo to fire low through
several bodies and beat Rafel at his near post.
A week after his side were routed 5-0 at Napoli,
Lazio coach Stefano Pioli said: "We wanted to show
our progress, and I think we've succeeded.
"The team has grown, but we can do much better."
Roma, who humiliated league new boys Carpi 5-1
on Saturday, sit six points behind Inter in sixth
place.
Champions Juventus, meanwhile, are down in 15th
place already 10 points off the pace after a 2-1
defeat at Napoli left them with just one league win
all season.
In an interview with Sky Sport Italia, goalkeeper and
captain Gianluigi Buffon said: "We have to put aside
all talk of the scudetto for the next few months."
