AAP Soccer

Milan stun Juve in comeback Serie A win

By AAP Newswire

Juventus have blown a chance to increase their lead at the top of Italy's Serie A after they let slip a two-goal lead in a 4-2 loss at AC Milan.

After second-placed Lazio lost 2-1 at relegation-threatened Lecce earlier on Tuesday in a game marred by the send off of Patric for biting, Juventus could have extended their advantage to 10 points with a win at the San Siro.

A tight first half finished scoreless after Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a goal ruled out for offside shortly before the break.

But Adrien Rabiot broke the deadlock two minutes after the restart by curling a strike into the top right corner.

Cristiano Ronaldo doubled Juve's lead six minutes later when the Portuguese star maintained his record of scoring in every game he has played since the league rerstart.

However, Milan turned the match around completely in the space of five minutes.

First Ibrahimovic converted a penalty in the 62nd minute after a handball from Leonardo Bonucci.

Then came quickfire goals from Franck Kessie and substitute Rafael Leao.

Milan sealed the points 10 minutes from full time when Giacomo Bonaventura capitalised on an error from Juventus defender Alex Sandro to set up Ante Rebic.

The result lifted the Rossoneri to fifth and into the automatic qualification spot for next season's Europa League.

Lecce missed a penalty and also had a goal disallowed, but still managed an upset win over title-chasing Lazio.

Fabio Lucioni and Khouma Babacar scored for Lecce after Felipe Caicedo had given Lazio an early lead.

Lazio's bad night was made worse when defender Patric was sent off for biting Giulio Donati in an incident that could lead to a lengthy ban for the Spaniard.

Lazio were just a point behind Juventus when the season was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic and on a record unbeaten run of 21 straight matches but the capital side has lost three of its five matches since the season resumed.

"The break penalised us, we are not the same as before, especially on a mental level. However, this is not an excuse, but just a fact," Lazio forward Ciro Immobile said.

"But we have to finish the season well, also to not cancel everything good we have done in the last few months."

Lecce moved out of the relegation zone, a point above Genoa, who host Napoli on Wednesday.