(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Fabio Borini and Suso scored late as AC Milan bounced back from last week's Italian Super Cup defeat to Juventus by reclaiming fourth spot in Serie A with a 2-0 win at Genoa yesterday. Gennaro Gattuso's side have 34 points from 20 games and sit in the final Champions League berth, overtaking Roma who are one point behind in fifth and Lazio, who are a further point behind in sixth after their 2-1 defeat at Napoli on Sunday.
Just four points separate Milan and eighth-placed Sampdoria in a tight race to qualify for Europe's premier club competition. Gattuso's side — unsettled by their defeat to Juventus in Saudi Arabia and mounting speculation surrounding Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain's loan move to Chelsea — struggled early against Genoa, who are in 14th position following their 10th defeat of the season.
Gattuso left Higuain out of his squad after saying he was not 'mentally ready while Genoa's Krzysztof Piatek, who is set to replace Higuain at Milan, was suspended. Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled off key saves and new Brazilian signing Lucas Paqueta also impressing as his long range volley rattled the post just before the break.
Donnarumma again came to the rescue in the second half with a double save on Miguel Veloso and Daniel Bessa. However Milan got into their stride as the game edged into its final period, with Andrea Conti setting up Borini to tap in with 18 minutes left.
Donnarumma then got his hand to a powerful Veloso strike before Patrick Cutrone sent Suso free on the counter attack, the Spaniard shaking off Genoa's defenders to shoot home the decisive goal from an angle 10 minutes later. Seven-time reigning champions Juventus were taking on bottom club Chievo late last night looking to pull back nine points ahead of second-placed Napoli.
Napoli had beaten 10-man Lazio 2-1 on Sunday to close the gap on leaders Juventus to six points and consolidate second place. First-half goals from Jose Callejon and Arkadiusz Milik ensured all three points for the southerners.
Napoli have 47 points from 20 games and are now seven ahead of third-placed Inter Milan who were held to a goalless draw at home by Sassuolo on Saturday. But it was a damaging defeat for Lazio who drop out of the Champions League places into fifth at the expense of city rivals Roma.
Eusebio Di Francesco's Roma are one point ahead of Lazio who host seven-time reigning champions Juventus next weekend. Napoli were without suspended defender Kalidou Koulibaly, captain Marek Hamsik and forward Lorenzo Insigne.
But Carlo Ancelotti's side could have won by a larger margin with Milik and Fabian Ruiz both hitting the woodwork early. Spanish forward Callejon scored his first Serie A goal this season after 34 minutes with forward Milik's superb free-kick three minutes later giving the Pole his seventh goal in eight games.
Ciro Immobile pulled one back for Lazio after 65 minutes at the San Paolo stadium, but the visitors were struggling as they played the last 20 minutes a man down after Francesco Acerbi was sent off for a second yellow card. 'We were missing a lot of players, but you really couldn't tell at all, which shows our strength in depth, said Ancelotti. 'We had moments of difficulty, some of which we could have dealt with better and there were some naive errors, but overall there was a lot of quality.
Earlier Colombian forward Duvan Zapata scored four goals as ambitious northerners Atalanta thrashed struggling Frosinone 5-0 to bring his tally to 13 in the last seven league games. The side from Bergamo are just two points off the final Champions League berth.
In Florence, Sampdoria held 10-man Fiorentina 3-3 in a game between Europa League hopefuls.
Colombian forward Luis Muriel bagged a brace on his first appearance for Fiorentina since his loan move from Sevilla, with Fabio Quagliarella getting a double to join Cristiano Ronaldo on top of the goal scoring charts with 14 this season. The side from Genoa are eighth — one point off the Europa League berths, with Fiorentina three points behind in tenth.
Serie A results
Genoa 0 AC Milan 2 (Borini 72, Suso 83)
Played Sunday: Frosinone 0 Atalanta 5 (Mancini 11, Zapata 44, 47, 64, 73); SPAL 1 (Kurtic 63) Bologna 1 (Palacio 24); Fiorentina 3 (Muriel 34, 70, Pezzela 90+3) Sampdoria 3 (Ramirez 44, Quagliarella 81-pen, 85); Cagliari 2 (Pavoletti 36, Farias 90+1) Empoli 2 (Di Lorenzo 70, Zajc 81); Napoli 2 (Callejon 34, Milik 37) Lazio 1 (Immobile 65)
Played Saturday: Roma 3 (Zaniolo 15, Kolarov 34-pen, El Shaarawy 73) Torino 2 (Rincon 51, Ansaldi 67); Udinese 1 (Okaka 50) Parma 2 (Inglese 11-pen, Gervinho 68); Inter Milan 0 Sassuolo 0
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