Serie A: AC Milan's poor away form continues as they lose to Sampdoria; stay fifth in league table

Milan: Duvan Zapata and Ricky Alvarez scored as Sampdoria condemned big-spending AC Milan to their second defeat of the Serie A campaign 2-0 in Genoa on Sunday. Zapata broke through after a terrible clearance by his cousin and fellow Colombia international Cristian Zapata after 72 minutes with substitute Alvarez getting the second just before the whistle. [caption id=“attachment_4077369” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sampdoria’s players react after scoring a goal during their match against AC Milan. AFP[/caption] Chinese-owned Milan again showed their difficulty against teams in the top half of the table as they stay fifth after six games with Sampdoria, who have a game in hand, moving sixth just a point behind. “We deserved this victory, we fought to the end and must build on this performance,” said Zapata. “It’s important for us to keep a clean sheet too, now we need to rest and prepare for another important match.” Milan had problems defensively with Cristian Zapata having a forgettable afternoon and Leonardo Bonucci and Alessio Romagnoli performing little better. Sampdoria dominated from the outset with the visitors having a scare after two minutes when Ivan Strinic’s cross hit Franck Kessie on the arm and the referee awarded a penalty. However, the decision was overturned by the video assistant referee. After Saturday’s victories of leaders Juventus and Napoli, Sunday’s action will be dominated by the clash between Inter Milan, in third, and struggling Genoa, which would allow Inter to stay within two points of the leaders. Paulo Dybala scored a double as Juventus outclassed 10-man Torino 4-0 in the Turin derby to stay top of Serie A alongside Napoli who battled past SPAL 3-2. The Argentine striker has now scored an impressive ten goals in six Serie A games with Miralem Pjanic and Alex Sandro also on target at the Allianz Stadium. AS Roma cruised past Udinese 3-1.