AC Milan lose ground in title race

Bad weather has affected Serie A with three matches postponed due to snow today [GETTY]

AC Milan wasted a chance to take the Serie A lead with an uninspired 2-0 loss at Lazio on Wednesday, while Diego Milito scored four goals in Inter Milan’s 4-4 draw with Palermo under the snow at the San Siro.

With Italian league leader Juventus’ match with Parma on Tuesday postponed due to snow, Milan needed only a point to draw level at the top of the table.

It looked like the Rossoneri might get that single point with a draw until Brazil playmaker Hernanes struck for Lazio in the 76th. Lazio’s 34-year-old captain, Tommaso Rocchi, added another goal in the 85th to seal the Roman club’s first league win over Milan in 14 years.

Juventus still lead with 44 points, followed by Milan (43), Udinese (41), Lazio (39) and Inter (36).

Udinese beat Lecce 2-1 with goals from newly signed Michele Pazienza and Antonio Di Natale.

Milito precision

In Milan, Milito accounted for all four of Inter’s goals – including a penalty – although Fabrizio Miccoli scored a hat trick for Palermo and had equalised in the 85th. It snowed from start to finish and, while the lines were painted pink, they were still difficult to see as the snow settled on the central section of the pitch.

Three other matches slated for Wednesday were also postponed due to snow: Bologna-Fiorentina, Siena-Catania and Atalanta-Genoa.

Elsewhere, Cagliari beat Roma 4-2 with two goals from Brazilian forward Thiago Ribeiro and one each from Mauricio Pinilla and Victor Ibarbo; and all Napoli could manage in a 0-0 draw at Cesena was a shot that hit the post from Edinson Cavani.

In Rome, Lazio looked like they were in for a rough night when leading scorer Miroslav Klose missed the game with an apparent muscle problem, but Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic had an off night and the Rossoneri produced few chances.

Both sides pleaded for penalties to no avail early in the second half, and Hernanes finally found the target with a difficult shot around former Lazio captain Alessandro Nesta.

Hernanes had another chance five minutes later when he missed wide after being left unmarked inside the area. Rocchi doubled the lead when he was also left alone in front of the net, collecting a pass from Senad Lulic to score his 99th Serie A goal.