(Football news) AC Milan came back from behind to win 3-1 against Hellas Verona to reclaim the lead in the Scudetto race. A Sandro Tonali double moved AC Milan one step closer to their first Serie A title in 11 years after reclaiming top spot from their city rivals Inter. Internazionale provisionally moved top of the standings with a 4-2 win over Empoli on Friday, the pressure was on Stefano Pioli's side to win and their triumph over ninth-placed Verona moved them two points clear at the top with two matches to play this season
Milan dominated the first half and had several opportunities to score but it was Verona who drew first blood in the 38th minute when an inch perfect pass found Darko Lazovic, whose subsequent cross was headed home by Davide Faraoni. However, Milan refused to give up and asserted their dominance right on the stroke of halftime, as Rafael Leao danced into the box and brilliantly cut the ball back for Tonali who scored from point blank range.
After the halftime break, the pair again combined on a Milan counter-attack, with Leao’s pace causing a lot of trouble as he sprinted past the backtracking Verona defence before his low cross was turned into by an in form Tonali. Alessandro Florenzi, came on as a late substitute to put the final nail in the coffin as he sealed all three points when he found space to run into the box and fired a thumping half-volley past the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.
"We were not in anyone's predictions [as title contenders]. We are bringing home the fruits of our labour, which however is not finished yet," Pioli told reporters.
"Before the game Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] said something beautiful: 'If we want them to remember us, we have three games [to win].' Now we have two.
Also read: Serie A: Inter have gone top of the league after their win over Empoli
The other result were:
- Genoa 2 (Gudmundsson, Criscito) – 1 Juventus (Dybala)
- Torino 0 – 1 Napoli (Ruiz)
- Sassuolo 1 (Scamacca) – 1 Udinese (Nuytinck)
- Lazio 2 (Patric, Alberto) – 0 Sampdoria
- Spezia 1 (Verde) – 3 Atalanta (Muriel, Dijmsiti, Pasalic)
- Venezia 4( Henry, Kiyine, Aramu, Johnson) – 3 Bologna (Orsolini, Arnautovic, Schouten)
- Salernitana 1 (Verdi) – 1 Cagliari (Altare)
