TURIN, Italy: A second-half double from substitute Christian Pulisic gave AC Milan a come-from- behind 3-2 win over Torino on Monday and swept them back to the top of Italy’s Serie A.
Weekend wins for title rivals Napoli and Internazionale left Milan in third and they knew three points were required to return to the summit.
However, they were 2-0 down after 17 minutes.
Nikola Vlašić gave the home side the lead with a penalty after nine minutes, and then made the second goal eight minutes later when he powered forward to feed Duvan Zapata, whose powerful angled drive beat Mike Maignan from 12 meters.
Milan got back into the game seven minutes later, Adrien Rabiot lashing in a shot from 35 meters that will feature in many goal of the season competitions come May.
It fell to American forward Pulisic to turn the game around with two second-half goals. After 67 minutes, one minute after replacing Davide Bartesaghi, he found himself unmarked in the box and made no mistake from close range.
Ten minutes later Pulisic put Milan ahead for the first time in the match when he swept home a low cross from the right.
Milan avoided what would have been only their second defeat of the season and extended their unbeaten league run to 13 games.
The result leaves Torino, a club with the worst defense in the league, in 16th place, one of four teams on 14 points.
Genoa beat Udinese
In Udine, Genoa won a second consecutive league match for the first time in almost two years when a late goal from Brooke Norton-Cuffy secured a 2-1 victory over Udinese.
The 83rd-minute decider was the England under-21 international’s first goal for the club since signing from Arsenal last year.
It followed a 34th-minute penalty from Ruslan Malinovskyi that put Genoa ahead, and a 65th minute equalizer by Jakub Piotrowski.
The result maintained Genoa’s revival under new coach Daniele De Rossi. They are unbeaten in their last four, with eight points from 12 since the former Roma midfielder took the helm.
The win lifted Genoa into 14th place, one of the four teams on 14 points. Udinese are three places above them with 18.
Parma sink Pisa
At the bottom of the table, a penalty from Adrian Benedyczak gave Parma a 1-0 win at Pisa.
The Polish forward struck after 40 minutes to move Parma four points clear of the relegation zone.
M’Bala Nzola came close three times for the home side in the second half. His day got worse in stoppage time when he was shown a straight red card for a senseless kick at Mandela Keita.
The result leaves Pisa third-bottom with 10 points from 14 games.
AC Milan back on top of Serie A thanks to Christian Pulisic double
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AC Milan back on top of Serie A thanks to Christian Pulisic double
- Milan got back into the game seven minutes later, Adrien Rabiot lashing in a shot from 35 meters
- It fell to American forward Pulisic to turn the game around with two second-half goals
Maresca ‘relaxed’ about Chelsea’s rough patch
- Chelsea boss Maresca was Friday named Premier League manager of the month for November
- “For us November was fantastic. December, we didn’t start in the way we would like, even if it’s just one week ago we played Leeds, ” Maresca said
LONDON: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said he was “completely relaxed” about his side’s dip in form as he seeks greater consistency ahead of Saturday’s home match against Everton.
The Blues thumped Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League on November 25 and earned an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Arsenal days later.
But they have not won since, losing at Leeds and Atalanta and drawing with Bournemouth.
Chelsea boss Maresca was Friday named Premier League manager of the month for November, in recognition of his side’s unbeaten record.
“We are in December now,” he said, laughing, at his press conference.
“This kind of thing is because you do the right things in terms of performance and results,” he added.
“For us November was fantastic. December, we didn’t start in the way we would like, even if it’s just one week ago we played Leeds (a 3-1 defeat on December 3).
“So it’s just three games in a row in one week that we didn’t get the results that we expect but we are now focused on the next one.”
Chelsea, who won the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup last season, are fifth in the Premier League, eight points behind Arsenal.
Maresca said he was relaxed about Chelsea’s mini-slump.
“It’s football, it’s completely normal,” he said. “I understand most of the time we are always looking for problems or things we need to solve.
“The Leeds game was last Wednesday, eight or nine days ago. We are not going to change our season because we didn’t get the points that we expect.
“But I’m completely relaxed, I’m completely OK because I’m sure that at the end of the season we’re going to be where we have to be.”
The Italian admitted that improving consistency was the next step for his young squad.
“In terms of human beings, it’s impossible to be all season at the same level but for sure probably we need to learn things and to avoid that in the future,” he said.
Maresca said forward Cole Palmer should be available to face Everton after missing Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Atalanta.
