AC Milan recovered from an early concession to beat Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico, keeping their chances to lift their first Serie A trophy in 12 years alive.
Anything other than a win would’ve handed Inter Milan an unassailable advantage this late in the season, the Rossoneri knew, going into their league encounter against Lazio. However, Stefano Pioli’s men started on the wrong foot, conceding a goal to Ciro Immobile after just four minutes. The Italian caressed the ball in from close range following some excellent work high up the pitch by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
So began Milan’s onslaught at the Lazio goal – relentless, if not ruthless. Rafael Leao was a handful for the Laziali defence; his surging, explosive runs down the left often produced Milan’s best chances of getting back into the game. It was one of those runs that did create the equalizer in the 50th minute: the Portuguese, released into space by Theo Hernandez, pulled the ball back for Olivier Giroud to convert at the near post.
Milan would go on to win the match in the 92nd minute. A weak headed clearance by Francesco Acerbi fell to Zlatan Ibrahimovic inside the box, and he subsequently glanced it towards Sandro Tonali waiting in the centre. Tonali controlled the ball with his first touch and poked it past Thomas Strakosha with his second – for the win.
Their late win ensured that the Serie A remained a two-horse race heading into its final stretch of the season. It would have been more if not for a monumental Napoli collapse in the past few weeks – their latest one the most remarkable of them all.
The Partenopei led Empoli 2-0 by the 80th minute, courtesy of a couple of good finishes from Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne on either side of the interval. However, a defensive lapse allowed Liam Henderson to arrow the ball into the bottom corner, pulling one back for his team 10 minutes before full-time.
And it got worse from there for Napoli as an error from Alex Meret presented Empoli with the equalizer. The goalkeeper was caught out by Andrea Pinamonti, who closed him down and blocked the ball as he attempted to play it out from the back, resulting in the goal.
The on-loan Inter striker completed a remarkable turnaround in the 87th minute, converting a cross from Nedim Bajrami for a memorable 3-2 win.
