Milan loses Italian League soccer ‘Serie A’ opener

MILAN, Italy – Newly promoted Bologna beat AC Milan 2-1 Sunday to spoil Ronaldinho’s debut in the Serie A opening round. Ronaldinho set up Milan’s equalizer with a cross headed in by Massimo Ambrosini in the 41st minute, after Marco Di Vaio had put Bologna ahead in the 18th. Francesco Valiani sealed the win in the 79th at Milan’s San Siro stadium in front of 60,000 spectators that included Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister and Milan’s owner. Ronaldinho showed impressive dribbling and pinpoint passing after languishing last year at FC Barcelona. “I’m optimistic above all because of the game that Ronaldinho had," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “It was a strange game, one of those surprises that can happen at the beginning of the season ... We played a good game, we attacked for 90 minutes and there were two instances when Bologna was better than us." Andriy Shevchenko played in the second half, marking his return to Milan after two seasons at Chelsea. The Ukrainian failed to convert several passes from Ronaldinho, including one when he found himself alone in front of Bologna goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli who made the save with his feet. Milan was not the only preseason Serie A favorite to stumble in the opening round. Inter Milan drew 1-1 against Sampdoria on Saturday, while AS Roma only managed a 1-1 tie with Napoli which had 10 men for most of Sunday’s second half. Roma pulled ahead in the 29th as Alberto Aquilani trapped a pass from Daniele De Rossi with his chest and then fired into the net among several Napoli defenders. Galvanized by the goal, Roma continued to pressure and had several chances to make it 2-0 before Marek Hamsik drew Napoli level a minute after Fabiano Santacroce’s expulsion. “It was an open game that could have gone either way," Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said. Fiorentina got a late goal from Alberto Gilardino while playing with 10 men to draw with Juventus 1-1. The ex-Milan forward scored in the 89th with his back almost to the goal. Fiorentina had been playing with 10 men for five minutes after Felipe Melo received a second yellow card for rough play. “I feel psychologically and physically strong," Gilardino said. “Pity because we could have won this game if we had pressed more in the first half." Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved had tapped a low cross from Zdenek Grygera into an empty net in the 39th to put the Bianconeri up 1-0. Juventus then had several opportunities to lead 2-0 but failed to convert and Fiorentina took control early in the second half. Fiorentina had a clear chance in the 72nd when Gilardino dribbled around a defender in the box and then got around goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, but stumbled as he tried to shoot at the open net from a sharp angle. Lazio went behind 1-0 and then scored four goals in the last 30 minutes to beat 10-man Cagliari 4-1. Chievo rallied to defeat Reggina 2-1 with a goal in the 88th by Vincenzo Italiano after the teams traded penalty kicks to make it 1-1. Reggina has never won in 11 meetings between the two teams at Chievo’s home stadium in Verona. Also Sunday, it was: Torino 3, Lecce 0; Catania 1, Genoa 0; and Atalanta 1, Siena 0. On Saturday, Udinese defeated Palermo 3-1. – AP