MILAN: Teenage defender Davide Bartesaghi scored his first senior goals but couldn’t prevent AC Milan from being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Sassuolo and being overtaken at the top of Serie A by city rival Inter Milan on Sunday.
Inter won 2-1 at relegation-threatened Genoa to move a point ahead of Milan and two points above Napoli, which lost 1-0 at Udinese.
At San Siro, Ismaël Koné gave Sassuolo a surprise lead in the 13th minute but Milan leveled in the 34th as Ruben Loftus-Cheek rolled the ball across the area for Bartesaghi to power in from close range.
The 19-year-old Bartesaghi doubled his tally immediately after halftime when he ran onto Christopher Nkunku’s smart pass and fired inside the near post.
Christian Pulisic and Loftus-Cheek both had goals disallowed for Milan before Sassuolo equalized in the 77th minute through substitute Armand Laurienté.
Laurienté, who had changed the match when he came on, almost scored a stunning winner in the 88th minute following a solo run from his own half but his effort crashed off the left post.
Napoli stunned
Napoli knew it could move atop the standings following Milan’s result.
However, it was Udinese that had the better of the chances and twice thought it had broken the deadlock only to have both goals struck off on video review.
Keinan Davis’s strike was ruled out in the 52nd minute for offside and Nicolò Zaniolo also saw his effort chalked off in the 69th because there was a foul in the buildup.
Between those decisions, Udinese also hit the crossbar through Jakub Piotrowski.
The hosts finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute when Jurgen Ekkelenkamp curled a magnificent strike into the far top corner from outside the area.
Rasmus Højlund should have leveled two minutes from time but he somehow fired over an open goal from point-blank range, while Lorenzo Lucca — who joined Napoli from Udinese in July — hit the post in stoppage time.
Inter goes top
Instead it was Inter which moved into the sole lead of Serie A with what looked set to be a routine win, until the final 25 minutes.
Yann Bisseck got Inter off to a perfect start with an early goal and Lautaro Martínez doubled his side’s advantage shortly before halftime.
Vitinha pulled one back for Genoa midway through the second half after squeezing his way through two defenders and rounding Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Genoa was two points off the relegation zone.
Fiorentina jokes
Gift Emmanuel Orban scored twice — including in stoppage time — as Hellas Verona won 2-1 at last-placed Fiorentina in a relegation battle to move to within two points of safety.
Fiorentina was without a win and eight points from safety. Its fans displayed a banner addressing their Verona counterparts with the words “whoever finishes last pays for the drinks.”
Inter moves top of Serie A after Milan and Napoli drop points
https://arab.news/v7uss
Inter moves top of Serie A after Milan and Napoli drop points
- Inter won 2-1 at relegation-threatened Genoa to move a point ahead of Milan and two points above Napoli, which lost 1-0 at Udinese
Kane scores as Bayern deliver comeback romp over Leipzig
- The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund
- Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break
LEIPZIG, Germany: Harry Kane scored his 21st goal of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 5-1 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
The victory restores Bayern’s 11-point lead atop the ladder over second-placed Borussia Dortmund, while continuing their record-breaking campaign.
Unbeaten Bayern have dropped just four points on their way to a record-equalling tally of 50 after 18 games. Bayern’s total of 71 goals scored is also a record at this stage of a German league season.
Leipzig took a first-half lead through Romulo, but Bayern kicked into gear after the break, Serge Gnabry, Kane, Jonathan Tah, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Michael Olize all scoring.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said Leipzig were “twice as good as we were” in the opening half, adding “but in the second-half — my god, the boys delivered.
“We weren’t afraid and we really went for it.”
Leipzig goalscorer Romulo said “we played 75 minutes really on top, then I don’t know what happened, we turned off our minds. We have to learn something out of that.”
Leipzig were strong early and broke through after 20 minutes when Romulo snuck past Bayern’s Tah to poke in an Antonio Nusa pass from close range.
The hosts were undone in the simplest fashion just after half-time. Dayot Upamecano picked Christoph Baumgartner’s pocket and fed Gnabry, who guided the ball into the bottom corner.
Bayern took the lead after 67 minutes, once again thanks to a Leipzig mistake.
Olize’s floated cross looked harmless until Ridle Baku lost his footing, allowing an unmarked Kane time and space to blast home.
With Leipzig’s resistance broken, Tah, Pavlovic and Olize all scored in the final 10 minutes, while Jamal Musiala returned late off the bench after a six-month injury absence.
- Can rescues Dortmund -
Earlier, an Emre Can penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time saved Borussia Dortmund’s blushes in a 3-2 home win against lowly St. Pauli.
In the dying moments, VAR found a foul on Germany forward Maximilian Beier, bringing Dortmund captain Can to the spot.
“What a rollercoaster ride,” Can told Sky Germany.
“We need to do much better to settle things down and to convert our chances,” he added.
The hosts overcame a poor first half when Julian Brandt tapped in from close range just before the break. Having created the opener, Karim Adeyemi gave Dortmund a two-goal buffer in the 54th minute, converting a Fabio Silva assist.
Rock-bottom St. Pauli had won just once since September but fought back into the game when James Sands and Ricky-Jade Jones scored inside 10 minutes midway through the second half to stun the hosts.
Deep into stoppage time, Jones caught Beier on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Can to convert nervelessly from the spot.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim’s Wouter Burger scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over flailing Bayer Leverkusen to climb past Leipzig into third in the table.
Burger swung in an excellent free-kick after nine minutes to give the hosts the three points.
“That was an important one,” Burger said of his free-kick. “I was practicing them a bit this morning.”
Relegation candidates last season, Hoffenheim are on track to qualify for Europe’s top competition for just the second time in their history, having last done so under now-Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann in 2017/18.
Leverkusen have now lost four of their past six, falling three points behind the Champions League placings.
Cologne beat Mainz 2-1 at home, Wolfsburg played out a 1-1 home draw with Heidenheim and hosts Hamburg were held to a scoreless draw by Borussia Moenchengladbach.
