Honda's double powers AC Milan past Hellas Verona
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Verona, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Keisuke Honda scored on either side of the intermission on Sunday to lift AC Milan to a 3-1 victory over Hellas Verona at the Stadio M.A. Bentegodi.
After a flying start in the opening weeks of the season, Milan have stumbled a bit, entering their first league match since the international break riding a three-match winless run.
The visiting side opened the scoring with a bit of luck in the 21st minute as Verona's Pinto Rafael Marques inadvertently knocked the ball into his own net.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Six minutes later Honda buried his first of the match to doubled Milan's advantage and the Japanese international completed his brace in the 56th minute to make it a 3-0 lead.
Nicolas Lopez pulled one back for Hellas three minutes from time, but Hellas defender Rafael Marquez was shown a second yellow card in stoppage time and sent off as Milan held on to claim all three points.
The result lifts Milan into fourth place in Serie A with 14 points from seven matches, while Hellas Verona remains in seventh place on 11 points.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Also in Serie A on Sunday, Filip Djordjevic and Bosnia international Senad Lulic scored on either side of the intermission to help Lazio claim three points with a 2-0 win over Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Richmond Boakye scored at the death for Atalanta in a 1-0 result over Parma, while Cagliari battled back from two goals down to earn a draw with Sampdoria courtesy of goals from Danilo Avelar and Marco Sau.
Geancarlo Gonzalez's 90th minute tally held up as the winner for Palermo in a 2-1 result over Cesena, while former Juventus man Fabio Quagliarella fired home a 62nd-minute winner for Torino in a 1-0 result against Udinese.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Finally in Serie A, Jose Maria Callejon fired in a pair of goals, but Fredy Guarin and Hernanes answered as Inter Milan and Napoli played to a 2-2 draw.