Parma shocks Milan with late victory, Napoli furious over referee calls

AC Milan endured an unexpected 1.0 home defeat against Parma on Sunday, which allowed their city rivals Inter to pull 10 points ahead at the summit of Serie A, while Napoli vented their anger at the refereeing after a loss to Atalanta.

A late header from Parma defender Mariano Troilo sealed the costly defeat for the second.placed Milan in their pursuit of the title, rounding off a tough week that included dropping points in a draw against Como.

Massimiliano Allegri's team had watched Inter widen the gap with a 2.0 victory over Lecce on Saturday, yet they failed to hit back, marking their first league loss since the season's opening match.

"We are disappointed, without doubt," said assistant coach Marco Landucci, deputising for the banned Allegri, to Sky Sport.

"Parma performed strongly and the ball simply refused to enter the net for us this evening. We aimed for the full three points, so naturally we feel frustrated, but we will push on."

Milan, already without Matteo Gabbia due to a muscle issue spotted in the warm.up, faced another setback early at the San Siro when Ruben Loftus.Cheek required a stretcher after suffering a head injury.

The English midfielder left the pitch in a neck brace following a clash with Parma keeper Edoardo Corvi.

Reports in the Italian press indicated that Loftus.Cheek needs dental care and hospital checks for potential head injury.

Milan came close to breaking the deadlock in the 36th minute as Alexis Saelemaekers found Christian Pulisic, though the US winger's effort was stopped by Corvi.

Pulisic missed a clearer opportunity just before half.time by firing it just past the post.

Milan pressed for a goal in the second half but found it hard to generate obvious openings.

Parma struck unexpectedly in the 80th minute with Troilo's header, despite an initial disallowance for a foul by Lautaro Valenti on keeper Mike Maignan.

However, following an extended VAR check, the referee reversed the call, leaving Milan's championship ambitions in jeopardy.

Napoli condemns disgraceful referee performance

Napoli criticised the "disgraceful" officiating after falling to a 2.1 defeat away to top.four challengers Atalanta.

Raffaele Palladino's team stretched their league unbeaten streak to nine games via a strong second.half comeback.

Atalanta hold seventh position and trail Napoli and Roma by five points in the battle for next season's Champions League spots.

Roma climbed to third place thanks to a 3.0 home triumph over Cremonese, with second.half strikes from Bryan Cristante, Evan Ndicka and Niccolo Pisilli.

The defending champions Napoli, plagued by injuries, dropped to fourth and now sit 14 points behind Inter.

Napoli were outraged after a penalty decision was rescinded and a goal ruled out in the opening period.

"Where is the infringement? The VAR intervened on the penalty, so why not this? It is humiliating," Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna stated to DAZN.

"We need an investigation into this as every week some team is left complaining about rulings.

"All we seek is fairness, what belongs to us, but this is unfair and not true football. It is outrageous, I am out of words."

Atalanta now focus on their Champions League knockout play.off second leg against Borussia Dortmund next week, aiming to reverse a 2.0 deficit in Bergamo.

The away side took an initial advantage when Sam Beukema, among three Napoli defenders left free, nodded in Miguel Gutierrez's free.kick.

Atalanta equalised shortly past the hour with Mario Pasalic glancing a header into the net from Nicola Zalewski's corner.

The hosts finished the comeback with nine minutes to go as Lazar Samardzic looped a header into the distant corner off Lorenzo Bernasconi's delivery.