Alessandro Matri marked his debut for Fiorentina with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Catania while Napoli were held and Inter Milan slumped to defeat as torrential rain played havoc in Italy`s Serie A on Sunday.
|Last Updated: Jan 19, 2014, 10:53 PM IST|Source: AFP
Milan: Alessandro Matri marked his debut for Fiorentina with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Catania while Napoli were held and Inter Milan slumped to defeat as torrential rain played havoc in Italy`s Serie A on Sunday.
Matri, AC Milan`s most expensive signing last summer, pledged to hit 10 goals in the second half of the season for La Viola when he signed for the Florence club in midweek.
And the former Juventus flop took a huge step towards fulfilling that promise with a brace within three first-half minutes before completing his hat-trick four minutes before the interval.
Fiorentina`s 12th win of the campaign reinforced fourth place in the table and Vincenzo Montella`s men are now 15 points behind leaders Juventus, 4-2 winners over Sampdoria on Saturday, and seven behind second-placed Roma.
More importantly, Fiorentina are only three points behind Napoli, who occupy the third and last qualifying spot for the Champions League.
Napoli had been looking for a win at Bologna to stay in touch with the top two, especially after Roma`s 3-0 defeat of Livorno on Saturday.
But after Rolando Bianchi opened the scoring just after the half hour the former Manchester City and Lazio striker levelled on 90 minutes for the hosts to snatch a share of the points in a 2-2 draw.
Bianchi broke the deadlock with a glancing header from Alessandro Diamanti`s cross which beat Napoli `keeper Rafael on 37 minutes.
Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain came close to levelling after the restart when he dived to head Jose Callejon`s cross from six yards out only for his effort to flash wide.
Higuain made no mistake from the penalty spot, though, blasting the ball under Gianluca Curci`s crossbar on 62 minutes after Blerim Dzemaili had crumbled under a clumsy challenge from Panagiotis Kone.
A superb Curci diving save then kept out Dries Mertens` free kick and, now with the momentum, Napoli finally pulled in front when Callejon pounced on a lost ball in midfield to surge ahead and beat Curci with an angled drive.
Napoli looked set for the three points after Bologna were reduced to 10 men when Kone was cautioned for a second time after tugging Higuain`s shirt.
But Rafael Benitez`s men were made to pay for slack defending at the death, their defence failing to pick up Bianchi at the back post before the striker smashed the ball into the net.
Inter`s woes continued, meanwhile, with a 1-0 away defeat in rainy Genoa which left Walter Mazzarri`s men in sixth on 32 points, the same as fifth-placed Verona ahead of their trip to Milan later Sunday.
Luca Antonelli struck in the 83rd minute for Genoa to hand them only their seventh win of the campaign.
Elsewhere Alessandro Lucarelli hit an injury-time winner for Parma in precious 2-1 win away to struggling Chievo while Ciro Immobile and Matteo Brighi struck in either half for Torino in a 2-0 win away to Sassuolo.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.