Serie A

Milan drop two points as title race tightens

PatoAC Milan extended their lead to six points in Serie A despite a 4-4 home draw with Udinese, though SSC Napoli will be hoping to close in on the Rossoneri when they host Juventus later.

Fans at San Siro were treated to an eight-goal thriller as Milan came from behind three times to force a 4-4 draw. Pato cancelled out Antonio Di Natale’s 35th-minute opener on the stroke of half-time only for Alexis Sánchez (53) and Di Natale (66) to put the visitors 3-1 up, but the hosts rallied through a Medhi Benatia own goal (78) and a second Pato strike (82). Germán Denis (89) then grabbed what looked to be the winner with a minute remaining, yet the league leaders salvaged a point via Zlatan Ibrahimović in added time.

It proved a crucial draw as second-placed Lazio lost 2-1 at home against lowly Lecce to slip further adrift of the summit. Fourth-placed Roma also tasted defeat, losing 2-1 at nine-man Sampdoria after losing Júlio Sérgio to a 55th-minute red card, though their hosts finished with nine men following the late dismissals of centre-backs Daniele Gastaldello and Stefano Lucchini.

Inter came from behind to triumph 2-1 at Catania and lift themselves to seventh, while an even more dramatic comeback ended with Fiorentina turning a 2-0 deficit at home to Brescia into a 3-2 win.

Elsewhere, there were victories for Bologna and Cagliari at Bari and Parma respectively, while Palermo and Genoa were held to 0-0 draws at Chievo and Cesena.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Jan S0L0