Clarence Seedorf maintained his unbeaten start as AC Milan coach with an entertaining 1-1 Serie A draw against a flamboyant Torino at the San Siro on Saturday.
Milan came back from a poor start to draw level through Adil Rami’s deflected long-range strike five minutes into the second half, but failed to snatch a winner to stay in ninth place on 29 points, four behind city rivals Inter in fifth.
“I’m very happy because it’s come at a pretty complicated time for me, after four or five months without playing,” Rami told reporters after scoring his first goal in Italy.
Photo: EPA
France international Rami agreed in October to sign for Milan on loan from Valencia in last month’s transfer window, but asked to be immediately allowed to train with the Italian club.
Giampiero Ventura’s Torino stayed sixth, level on 33 points with Inter, who were traveling to Juventus for the Derby of Italy yesterday.
“From the first day I said our objective was neither safety nor Europe. We wanted to become a player in Serie A and we are growing game by game,” Ventura said.
They will be disappointed they missed the chance to leapfrog Inter into the European places after a thrilling first-half display in which Ciro Immobile give the away side the lead with a brilliant breakaway goal after 17 minutes.
Immobile broke the offside trap before leaving defender Daniele Bonera on the floor with an expert shimmy and coolly slipping his 11th goal of an impressive season past Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
ACF Fiorentina missed the chance to draw level on points with third-placed SSC Napoli after losing 1-0 at Cagliari, for whom Mauricio Pinilla converted a first-half penalty.
Fourth-placed ACF Fiorentina stayed on 41 points, three behind Napoli after a lackluster display in which they created little as hosts Cagliari climbed to 13th on 24 points.
Udinese are a point and a place behind Cagliari after a 2-0 win at Bologna, Antonio di Natale grabbing his fifth goal of the season from the penalty spot after 15 minutes and Nicolas Lopez scoring on the counterattack in stoppage-time to leave their hosts one point and one place above the relegation zone.
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