体坛英语新闻：AC Milan suffer defeat to Sampdoria

ROME, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- AC Milan's new-look side failed to impress as they lost to Sampdoria 1-0 in their season-opener at home on Sunday.

Andrea Costa scored the only goal of the game in the 58th minute and Rossoneri were unlucky to hit the woodwork twice.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri rued his side's lack of luck and refused to blame the players.

"We hit the woodwork, forced goalline clearances and saves. I cannot ask for anything more from my players at the moment," he said.

"There's no point acting like victims now and we must instead restart from the good things seen. The performance showed there are quality players in this side, but there are always going to be difficulties at the start and we need calm to grow slowly," he said.

Inte Milan had their day at their first match of the season as they beat Serie A newboys Pescara 3-0.

Wesley Sneijder got Inter up and running with 17 minutes gone. Diego Milito then caught them cold with a second two minutes later before Phillipe Coutinho wrapped things up for Andrea Stramaccioni's men.

Zdenek Zemen's return to Serie A as coach of Roma was greeted with a 2-2 draw with Catania.

Giovanni Marchese and Alejandro Gomez twice put the visitors in front but the Giallorossi responded with goals from Pablo Osvaldo and Nico Lopez.

Lazio also opened their campaign with a 1-0 victory at Atalanta, courtesy of Anderson Hernanes' 18th-minute goal.

Napoli's bid to improve on last term's top-five finish got off to a flying start with a 3-0 victory at Palermo. Marek Hamsik, Christian Maggio and Edinson Cavani all scored for the Partenopei.

Chievo kicked off the new season with a workmanlike 2-0 victory over Bologna. Talismanic skipper Sergio Pellissier opened the scoring for the hosts in the second half and Rinaldo Cruzado doubled the lead 11 minutes from full-time.

Second-half goals from Alexander Merkel and Ciro Immobile were enough to earn Genoa a routine 2-0 win over Cagliari.

Cristobal Jorquera missed a 17th-minute penalty for the hosts, but Merkel got things going six minutes after the break and Immobile finished things off with five minutes left.

Siena, who are trying to overturn a six-point deduction for their part in a match-fixing scandal, could only manage a 0-0 draw against newly promoted Torino.