AC Milan extended their winning run to six games in all competitions as they beat Fiorentina 2-1 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Serie A, subsequently ending the hosts’ six-match unbeaten streak.The Rossoneri’s last three visits to Florence had yielded 15 goals, so it was a surprise to see a scoreless first half, despite Milan recording six shots on target before the halftime whistle. Half of those fell to Rafael Leão in a 10-minute cluster, with all three saved well by Filippo Terracciano. Olivier Giroud also wasted a trio of decent chances, but Fikayo Tomori came closest to scoring for the visitors, as his header was spilled by Terracciano and subsequently cleared off the line.Lazio punish Juve’s lack of desire – a late goal sends the Eagles closer to the ‘euro-spots’Fiorentina’s best opportunity came from Andrea Belotti, who forced a rushing Mike Maignan to save from close range. Milan certainly had the better of the early stages though, and in the second half, they were rewarded almost immediately with the opening goal. Leão’s exquisite backheel found Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the far post, who took some time to get the ball out of his feet before finally tapping home to put himself in double figures for the season.
With La Viola having lost just once in 13 home matches before tonight, it was not particularly surprising to see Fiorentina respond instantly through Alfred Duncan, who curled his second goal of the campaign neatly into the bottom corner. Yet, such was the brilliance of Leão, he put Milan back into the lead moments later. Capping off a remarkable first eight minutes of the half, the Portuguese powerhouse superbly dribbled past Terraciano before tapping into an empty net.
Both goalkeepers were then forced into action by Alessandro Florenzi and Belotti respectively, with Maignan in particular producing a spectacular stop to deny the latter. Christian Pulisic then thought he had scored in his fifth consecutive match when he put the ball in the net to extend the Rossoneri’s advantage, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Nonetheless, Milan left Florence with three points, continuing their impressive streak of scoring in every away league game this season. Despite recording such a gutsy victory at a fortress of a venue, the Rossoneri still remain 11 points behind rivals Inter at the summit, while Fiorentina stay 10th after this defeat. A Europa Conference League trophy remains the latter’s likeliest key to European competition in 2024/25.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 30Saturday Napoli – Atalanta 0-3 (0-2)/Miranchuk 26, Scamacca 45, Koopmeiners 88/Genoa – Frosinone 1-1 (1-1)/Gudmundsson 30 pen – Reinier 36/Torino – Monza 1-0 (0-0)/Sanabria 69 pen/Lazio – Juventus 1-0 (0-0)/Marusic 90+3/Fiorentina – AC Milan 1-2 (0-0)/Duncan 50 – Loftus-Cheek 47, Leao 53/Monday 13.30: (1.30) Bologna (5.20) Salernitana (11.0)16.00: (2.25) Cagliari (3.35) Verona (3.50)16.00: (2.90) Sassuolo (3.30) Udinese (2.65)19.00: (4.50) Lecce (3.60) Roma (1.90)21.45: (1.22) Inter (6.50) Empoli (12.0)***odds are subject to change***