Milan back on summit as Napoli wilt under pressure
SANDRO TONALI scored in stoppage time as AC Milan came from behind to win 2-1 at Lazio yesterday and retake top spot from Inter Milan in Serie A, while
Napoli’s title hopes appear over after their meltdown in Empoli.
Ciro Immobile gave Lazio an early lead at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, but Olivier Giroud levelled shortly after halftime before Tonali’s late heroics kept Milan firmly in the title hunt.
They moved back two points above of Inter, who beat Roma 3-1 on Sunday and have a game in hand on Thursday away to Bologna. Inter also knocked
Milan out of the Italian Cup semifinals in midweek.
Ciro Immobile became the leading active scorer in Italy’s top flight when he turned in a cross from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic inside four minutes.
The Italy international’s 181st Serie A goal took him past veteran Sampdoria striker Fabio Quagliarella as Immobile extended his league-leading haul for the season to 26.
But Giroud poked in from after excellent work from Rafael
Leao, and Milan won
it at the death as Zlatan Ibrahimovic nodded across for Tonali to force home following a poor defensive header by Francesco Acerbi.
“My players are lions,” said Milan coach Stefano Pioli.
“I am so proud of my players and if I was in their shoes, I’d be angry, as people don’t give them enough credit,” he told DAZN.
Napoli’s Scudetto prospects are hanging
by a thread after they blew a two-goal lead late on and crashed to a shock 3-2 loss at Empoli.
Luciano Spalletti’s side
were 2-0 ahead with 10 minutes to go before Scottish midfielder Liam Henderson sparked a revival for the hosts who scored three goals in an eight-minute spell.
“Imagining such an end to the match is difficult,” said Spalletti, who side have now gone three matches without a win.
“But these are games where the opponent continues to fight with the right attitude, when we probably lost a bit of our focus and made mistakes that we shouldn’t make.
“I’m responsible for this team, for its technical and mental attitude, I have to take the consequences for what happens on the pitch.”