MILAN: AC Milan slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina on Sunday after having two penalties saved by star man David De Gea, while Juventus fell further behind Serie A leaders Napoli on a day of spot-kick drama.

Albert Gudmundsson lashed home the decisive goal in the 73rd minute of a match in Florence which was packed with drama and featured three failed attempts from the penalty spot.

The 27-year-old’s winner was made possible by De Gea pulling off two incredible stops to deny Theo Hernandez and then Tammy Abraham from scoring penalties in a superb display from the former Spain goalkeeper.

Those saves contributed to Milan missing the chance to move second above champions Inter Milan and Juventus, with the latter held 1-1 by Cagliari due to Razvan Marin’s late penalty.

“We need to work out why we played the way we did because at times we did well but we couldn’t keep it up over the course of the match,” said Milan defender Matteo Gabbia, who received his first Italy call-up on Friday.

Instead Milan, who did level Yacine Aldi’s first-half opener for Fiorentina when Christian Pulisic deftly guided home Hernandez’s cross on the hour, sit sixth and five points behind Napoli.

Adli’s opener came in the 35th minute, after Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan made the first penalty save of the evening, easily keeping out Moise Kean’s weak effort after Hernandez was penalized for kicking Dodo.

Italy international Kean had a tough night, missing a series of chances, having two goals rightly ruled out for offside and thumping the crossbar with a rocket in stoppage time, but he did provide the knockdown from which Gudmundsson won a thrilling contest.

Marin lashed home the 88th-minute penalty which gave Cagliari a point at the Allianz Stadium after Roberto Piccoli was clumsily brought down by Douglas Luiz.

Romania midfielder Marin’s arrowed penalty levelled Dusan Vlahovic’s 15th-minute spot-kick and moved Cagliari a point above the relegation zone.

It was the first goal conceded by Juve in Serie A this season and left Thiago Motta’s third-placed side three points behind Napoli.

“We created a few opportunities but there was always the feeling that Cagliari could get back into the game,” said Motta.

“What happened today is all our own fault.”

Cagliari could have even snatched a last-gasp win as Adam Obert thumped the post in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Juve down to 10 men following Francisco Conceicao’s sending off almost immediately after Marin’s equalizer for trying to win a penalty by simulating a foul.

Juventus would have almost certainly had the full three points had Vlahovic not wasted a huge chance in the 78th minute in front of Paul Pogba, who was in the stands after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided on Friday to cut his doping ban from four years to 18 months.

France midfielder Pogba can return to action in March but sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli gave the impression that the 31-year-old has no future at Juve.

“We’ll make our decision once the CAS decision has been made official. He was a great footballer but he hasn’t played for a long time,” Giuntoli said pre-match.

Juve have been joined on 13 points by their next opponents Lazio, who are fourth after winning their fourth straight match in all competitions, 2-1 over Empoli.

Roma’s sporting director Florent Ghisolfi meanwhile demanded “respect” for his team after the capital club were denied a late penalty during their 1-1 draw at Monza.

Georgios Kyriakopoulos’ 87th-minute challenge on Tommaso Baldanzi, which was if anything worse than Douglas Luiz’s on Piccoli, sparked a furious reaction from Roma’s players on the pitch and Ghisolfi later vented his frustration to Sky.

“What happened today was unacceptable, it was a clear penalty. Why did VAR not intervene?” said the Frenchman.

“There is a huge amount of frustration in the dressing room. We demand respect.”

Bologna’s difficult start to life under Vincenzo Italiano continued with a goalless draw against 10-man Parma.

LONDON: Manchester United’s winless run in all competitions extended to five games after a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, leaving manager Erik ten Hag’s position uncertain heading into a two-week international break.

Ten Hag arrived at Villa Park under huge pressure with United having lost three of its six league games and the club’s minority owner, Jim Ratcliffe, failing to say he had faith in the Dutch coach when asked specifically on Friday.

However creditable gaining a point at Villa is, it might still not be enough for Ten Hag — especially with United’s new leadership having two weeks to weigh up his future before the team’s next game. United is in 14th place in the 20-team league.

Playing in front of Ratcliffe and the rest of United’s hierarchy, the visitors came closest to scoring when Bruno Fernandes struck a free kick against the crossbar in the 68th.

Villa mostly dominated, four days after beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Since a chastening 3-0 loss to Tottenham last weekend, United has earned draws at Porto in the Europa League and now at a revitalized Villa.

Chelsea drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest thanks to Noni Madueke’s equalizer in the 57th minute at Stamford Bridge.

Forest took the lead eight minutes earlier through Chris Wood and had to play with 10 men from the 78th after James Ward-Prowse’s sending-off after a second yellow card for diving on the ball with his hands to stop Nicolas Jackson launching a breakaway.

Elsewhere, in Italian football, Juventus were held to a surprise 1-1 home draw by Cagliari after a late penalty which led to the Turin giants conceding second place in Serie A to Inter Milan.

Razvan Marin lashed home the 88th-minute equalizer to give Cagliari a point at the Allianz Stadium after Roberto Piccoli was clumsily brought down by Douglas Luiz, who also gave a penalty away in Wednesday’s thrilling Champions League win at Leipzig.

Romania midfielder Marin’s arrowed penalty levelled Dusan Vlahovic’s 15th-minute spot-kick and moved Cagliari a point above the relegation zone.

It was the first goal conceded by Juve in Serie A this season and left Thiago Motta’s third-placed side three points behind league leaders Napoli after seven fixtures.

“We took our foot off the pedal after our goal, and we can’t do that. We need to keep attacking, and attack well,” said Motta.

“We created a few opportunities but there was always the feeling that Cagliari could get back into the game. What happened today is all our own fault.”

Cagliari could have even snatched a last-gasp win as Adam Obert thumped the post in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Juve down to 10 men following Francisco Conceicao’s sending off almost immediately after Marin’s equalizer.

Conceicao picked up a second booking after trying to win Juve’s second penalty of the game in a frantic finish to a match which had largely been a drab affair before Luiz was penalized for his challenge following a VAR check.

“I’m pleased to get a point at Juve, it was hard because I had the whole stadium whistling me but I managed to keep my concentration,” said Marin.

Juventus, who were missing Nico Gonzalez, Arkadiusz Milik, Timothy Weah and Gleison Bremer, who suffered a serious knee injury at Leipzig, would have almost certainly had the full three points had Vlahovic not wasted a huge chance in the 78th minute.

Serbia striker Vlahovic, who is on five Serie A goals for the season, somehow shot wide on the rebound after Douglas Luiz’s shot was parried by Simone Scuffet.

His opener was controversial too as the penalty was awarded for Cagliari defender Sebastiano Luperto’s fingers grazing the ball as he engaged in an aerial tussle with Federico Gatti.

The spot-kick was given after a VAR check as Luperto’s arm was high in the air when he touched the ball, but he was landing from his jump and had Gatti leaning on his shoulder while two other players also battled for the ball.