Rafael Leao late strike edges AC Milan closer to Serie A title
MI AN moved closer to a first Serie A title triumph in 11 years thanks to a late strike from Rafael eao in Sunday’s 1-0 home win over Fiorentina on Sunday.
Inter’s shock 2-1 loss to Bologna in midweek handed the Scudetto initiative to Milan and the Rossoneri just about took full advantage with this third league victory in a row.
The visitors had lost three games on the spin in all competitions but frustrated their table-topping opponents until
eao made the most of an error to fire in an 82nd-minute winner.
That strike was enough as Milan moved five points clear of Inter, who travel to Udinese later on Sunday. Should it come to it, the Rossoneri boast the better head-to-head record.
Theo Hernandez had an early goal ruled out for an offside infringement against Junior Messias in the build-up in what turned out to be a frustrating contest for Milan.
The hosts probed away without regularly testing Pietro Terracciano, with Olivier Giroud clipping the ball wide when played through from the pick of their first-half chances.
Fiorentina, who are battling for a top-six finish, had some promising opportunities themselves and did at least force Mike Maignan into a save through Riccardo Saponara’s shot.
But the best openings continued to fall Milan’s way, with
eao slipping when firing over from a glorious position.
Milan needed Maignan to keep out an Arthur Cabral header from point-blank range and that proved a huge moment as eao’s winning goal arrived soon after.
Terracciano mishit his kick from the back and eao brought the ball inside before calmly curling home to spark jubilant scenes.
Birthday boy Bonucci bags Juve brace against bottom side Venezia
eonardo Bonucci marked his 5th birthday with two goals as Juventus made hard work of a 2-1 win over bottom side Venezia on Sunday to all but secure a top-four finish in Serie A.
The Bianconeri had taken just one point from their previous two matches at the Allianz Stadium but did enough to claim victory against Venezia, who have now lost nine in a row.
Full debutant Fabio Miretti played a big part in Bonucci’s headed opener inside seven minutes, but Juve were pegged back through a Mattia Aramu strike 19 minutes from time.
However, Bonucci bundled in a late winner to ensure that his side now require just two points from their remaining three games to keep Roma at bay in the battle for fourth.
Juve nearly opened the scoring four minutes in when
uca Pellegrini fired a ferocious strike against the crossbar from range.
The hosts did not have to wait much longer for their breakthrough, though, as Matthijs de igt nodded Miretti’s delivery back across goal for Bonucci to turn in from close range.
Venezia, who sacked coach Pablo anetti this week and placed Andrea Soncin in temporary charge, took full advantage of Juve’s failure to kill off the match through Aramu’s long-ranger.
That had Venezia on course for successive 1-1 draws against Juve, only for the Bianconeri to snatch all three points when a corner was not dealt with and went in off Bonucci’s shin.
Bonucci has now scored five Serie A goals for Juventus this season, which is his best tally in a single campaign.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side have lost just one of their past 21 league games overall and also have a Coppa Italia final with Inter to look forward to later this month.
Juventus are back in action on Friday with a trip to Genoa, while Venezia travel to fellow strugglers Salernitana on Thursday.