MILAN: Three days after beating Juventus, the inexperience of AC Milan’s young squad showed in a 3-0 loss at Genoa on Tuesday that saw the 10-man Rossoneri waste a chance to take provisional top spot in Serie A.

Genoa’s Serbian forward Nikola Ninkovic put the hosts ahead 11 minutes in after being left unmarked inside the area for a header.

Milan centre-back Gabriel Paletta was sent off in the 56th minute and his team-mate Jurak Kucka scored an own-goal 10 minutes from time with Genoa substitute Leonardo Pavoletti wrapping up the victory in the 86th.

“I think the loss tonight could teach us a lot,” Milan midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura said. “As a young squad we might concede something to a craftier team. These are steps we’re going to have to take to grow as a squad. “We don’t have the strength of Juve or Roma yet.”

Vicenzo Montella’s Milan stay third on 19 points from 10 games, two behind champions and leaders Juventus, who they beat 1-0 on Saturday, while Genoa jump five places to seventh on 15 ahead of the remaining midweek fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday.

Milan haven’t been in first place in more than four years.

The 21-year old Ninkovic, often in trouble at his former club Partizan Belgrade for failing to control his temper, finally showed a glimpse of his vast potential when he fired Genoa ahead with a diving header for his first Serie A goal.

Milan’s chances of launching an unlikely fightback collapsed 10 minutes after the restart when Paletta lunged with both feet at Luca Rigoni.

Kucka then redirected a cross into his own net and Pavoletti used a clever feint to free himself from 21-year-old defender Alessio Romagnoli and blast a shot past Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnar­umma.

Published in Dawn October 27th, 2016