Milan jumped to third place in the Serie A standings last night after a comfortable 3-0 win over 10-man Lazio who had Antonio Candreva controversially red-carded after 17 minutes.
Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice and Kevin-Prince Boateng added another as Milan ended a series of three successive home draws against Lazio in the league to continue their fine form of late, even though they’re still 11 points adrift of leaders Juventus.
With Mario Balotelli skipping this match through injury, Stephan El Shaarawy was very active up front for the hosts. On 17 minutes, El Shaarawy cut in from the left and had his heels clipped on the very edge of the box by Candreva.
The referee awarded a free-kick just inches outside the box and after a long discussion with the assistants, opted to flash the red card as Candreva had spoiled a clear scoring opportunity.
Riccardo Montolivo drilled his shot wide from the free-kick but Milan opened the scoring on 40 minutes thanks to Pazzini who tapped a loose ball into an empty net.
Then, just before the break, the Lazio keeper did well to keep out a Pazzini header off the line but could do nothing on Boateng’s follow-up.
Lazio never got to grips with the situation and their hopes were all but dashed on 60 minutes when Pazzini fired in Milan’s third goal.
Meanwhile, Inter manager Andrea Stramaccioni dropped striker Antonio Cassano for today’s Serie A match against Catania after a training ground row.
Local media reported that Cassano was suspended by the club after the pair nearly came to blows on Friday.
“What happened can happen in any changing room in Serie A,” Stramaccioni told a news conference yesterday.
“There wasn’t any physical contact, only a discussion, just as there has been in the past.”
Stramaccioni said Cassano would return to training tomorrow and would be in the squad for Thursday’s Europa League match against Tottenham.
Also today, eighth-placed Roma will hope to capitalise on teams above them taking points off each other when they host Genoa, Udinese travel to struggling Pescara and mid-table sides Sampdoria and Parma meet each other.
In the weekend’s other matches, bottom side Palermo face Torino, Siena host Atalanta and Bologna face Cagliari.