AC Milan lose to Sampdoria

Andrea Costa celebrates the solitary goal of the match

Rome, Aug 27 (IANS): AC Milan‘s new-look side failed to impress as they lost to Sampdoria 1-0 in the Serie A season-opener in Milan.

Andrea Costa scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute Sunday, reports Xinhua.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said his side lacked luck did not blame the players.

“We hit the woodwork, forced goalline clearances and saved many. I cannot ask for anything more from my players at the moment,” he said.

“There’s no point acting like victims now and we must instead restart. The performance showed there are quality players in this side but there are always going to be difficulties at the start.”

Inter Milan, in their first match, beat newly upgraded Pescara 3-0.

Wesley Sneijder got Inter up and running with 17 minutes gone. Diego Milito then caught them cold with a second two minutes later before Phillipe Coutinho wrapped things up.

Zdenek Zemen’s return to Serie A as coach of Roma was greeted with a 2-2 draw with Catania.

Giovanni Marchese and Alejandro Gomez put Catania in front but the Roma responded with goals from Pablo Osvaldo and Nico Lopez.

Lazio also opened their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Atalanta, courtesy Anderson Hernanes’ 18th-minute goal.

Napoli‘s bid to improve on last term’s top-five finish got off to a flying start with a 3-0 victory against Palermo. Marek Hamsik, Christian Maggio and Edinson Cavani scored for the victors.

Chievo kicked off the new season with a 2-0 victory over Bologna. Skipper Sergio Pellissier opened the scoring for the hosts in the second half and Rinaldo Cruzado doubled the lead 11 minutes from full-time.

Second-half goals from Alexander Merkel and Ciro Immobile were enough to earn Genoa a routine 2-0 win over Cagliari.

Cristobal Jorquera missed a 17th-minute penalty for the hosts, but Merkel got things going six minutes after the break and Immobile finished things off with five minutes left.

Siena could only manage a 0-0 draw against newly promoted Torino.