(Football news) AC Milan bounced back in style as they defeated Genoa 3-0. Milan came into the game looking for an important victory after back-to-back league losses to Fiorentina and Sassuolo as they took control early when Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired home a 10th-minute free kick just before half-time as Junior Messias pounced on a deflected shot to send a looping header over Salvatore Sirigu fingertips. In the second half, Brahim Diaz teed up Messias in the box for his second goal of the game and third in two games for Milan as he neatly placed the finish into the bottom corner. Messias continues a remarkable career journey that has gone from delivering fridges to now becoming a star in Milan, he moved to Italy from Brazil in 2011 and initially managed playing amateur football with a job of delivering fridges before slowly climbing up the football ladder. With this result AC Milan moved within a point of Napoli at the top of the table as they have 35 points from 15 matches.
“Today I did the best I could. These guys make me enjoy myself and make me feel young.Unfortunately we lost the last two games but the season is still long. There are ups and downs over the years,”Ibrahimovic said.
Inter Milan continued their amazing form as they beat Spezia 2-0. The champions took a deserved lead after 36 minutes when Gagliardini met Martinez's backheel flick to sweep home a well placed finish. Inter wasted a lot of chances as Joaquin Correa rattled the underside of the crossbar before Martinez calmly dispatched his penalty in the 58th minute following a handball in the penalty box. Inter stayed on 34 points in third, one behind AC Milan in second and two behind leaders Napoli.
“We did what we needed to, which is to win at home, but the pitch wasn't in a good state. We struggled to play our game, we hope it improves. We are fighting for important things, the pitch must be at its best." Martinez said after the match.
Juventus went back to winning ways as they won 2-0 against Salernitana, in the first half Dybala fired Juve in front in the 21st minute after his shot went in the bottom corner, but Salernitana were close to an equaliser when Luca Ranieri hit the post after the break. In the second half Juve asserted their dominance as Alvaro Morata came off the bench and doubled his side's lead by flicking a cross through the goalkeeper's legs in the 70th minute. With this result Juventus remain seventh with 24 points from 15 games, seven points away from the top four and 11 behind leaders Napoli, while Salernitana are bottom of the league with eight points.
“Juventus has given so much to all of us and there are moments in life when it is time to give back. Now we need to stay close to this club, and we will come out of it together," Juve captain Giorgio Chiellini said after the match.
Napoli couldn’t extend their lead at the top as they drew 2-2 against a spirited Sassuolo side. Luciano Spalletti's side looked set to maintain their three-point lead at the top, second-half strikes from Dries Mertens and Fabian Ruiz put Napoli in a comfortable position, but a superb goal from Gianluca Scamacca on the half volley with 19 minutes remaining put the hosts back in the game before Gian Marco Ferrari snatched a draw in the final minutes with a bullet header. Sassuolo thought they had won right at the end, in which Spalletti was sent off when Gregiore Defrel slotted home a powerful shot but the referee was called to check a Domenico Berardi foul on Amir Rrahmani as VAR ruled out the goal. With this result AC Milan are just one point behind in second and Inter Milan are two points behind in third following their respective wins over Genoa and Spezia.
"It would have been a shame not to draw a match that I think we played on equal footing with Napoli, we kept playing at 2-0 and we deserved to draw," said Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi
"He (Ruiz) is having issues as is Koulibaly ,It'll be difficult to get them back in time, but we'll see because we have good doctors here” Spalletti said after the game.
The other results were:
- Fiorentina 3 (Callejon, Vlahovic, Sottil) – 1 Sampdoria (Gabbiadini)
- Atalanta 4 (Pasalic x3, Koopmeiners) – 0 Venezia
- Bologna 1 (Svanberg) – 0 AS Roma
- Verona 0 – 0 Cagliari
