the winner with the last kick of the match as Udinese
were defeated 2-1 amid controversial scenes at the San
Siro on Sunday night.
All eyes were on the mercurial Italy striker following his
£19million arrival from Manchester City and he duly
delivered a clinical brace, his first goal arriving in the
24th minute.
Gianpiero Pinzi pulled Udinese level in the second half
and as Milan drifted towards a draw, Balotelli's head
appeared to drop. But he snatched up the ball with glee
when Stephan El Shaarawy won a suspicious penalty
from Thomas Heurtaux in the final minute of injury
time.
Despite Udinese's angry protestations - Heurtaux
appeared to make a clean tackle - Balotelli kept his
head from the spot to fire his new employers into
fourth place in Serie A.
Earlier, Juventus went three points clear at the top of
the standings thanks to a 2-1 victory at Chievo.
An early strike by Alessandro Matri was followed by a
second just before the break from Stephan Lichtsteiner,
before Cyril Thereau reduced the arrears in the second
half. New signing Nicolas Anelka was an unused
substitute for Juventus.
Siena climbed off the bottom of the table with a shock
3-1 home victory over Inter Milan, who have now failed
to win on the road since November.
Debutant Innocent Emeghara, recently signed from
Lorient, stunned the Nerazzurri with his first Siena goal,
only for Antonio Cassano to equalise inside 60 seconds.
An Alessio Sestu goal ensured Giuseppe Iachini's hosts
led at the break.
The second half might have been a different story for
Inter had Cristian Chivu not seen red for a professional
foul, with Alessandro Rosina converting the resulting
penalty.
A last-gasp goal from debutant Marco Rigoni secured a
3-2 victory over Lazio that lifted Genoa out of the
relegation zone.
It was a well-deserved first win for new Genoa coach
Davide Ballardini, whose side built a two-goal lead
inside 21 minutes through Marco Borriello and Andrea
Bertolacci.
Sergio Floccari and Stefano Mauri dragged Lazio back
into the game, only for deadline-day signing Rigoni to
fire in a bullet header for Genoa at the death.
Fiorentina got back to winning ways with a comfortable
2-0 victory over Parma.
Vincenzo Montella's men were chasing a first win in
five games to restore their bid for a Champions League
place and Luca Toni put them on track with the opener.
The visitors, who are sliding down the league table,
were condemned to a second straight defeat when
Stevan Jovetic scored five minutes into the second half.
Pescara dropped into the relegation zone after losing
3-2 at home to Bologna in an eventful contest featuring
three penalties in the space of 16 first-half minutes.
The home side twice took the lead from the spot
through Vladimir Weiss and Gaetano D'Agostino, with
Alessandro Diamanti initially equalising with a penalty
for the visitors.
Diamanti then set up a second equaliser for Alberto
Gilardino before Panagiotis Kone scored the winner for
Bologna midway through the second half.
Palermo's rash of January signings were unable to
change their fortunes at the foot of the table as they
lost 2-1 at home to fellow strugglers Atalanta.
Palermo signed a total of 10 players in January, with
Diego Fabbrini and Alejandro Faurlin the last to arrive
on deadline day.
They both made their debuts but ended in a losing
cause as second-half goals from Carlos Carmona and
German Denis put Atalanta in control before Nelson's
late consolation.
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