Franck Kessie snatches last-minute AC Milan draw, PSG and Lille win in Ligue 1 – European round-up
AC Milan’s Franck Kessie scored a penalty with the last kick of the game to rescue a 1-1 draw against Udinese, handing Inter Milan the opportunity to stretch their lead in the Serie A title race.
Milan struggled to find a way through a resolute defence in the absence of injured top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made a costly error at the other end when Rodrigo Becao’s looping header after 68 minutes sneaked past him.
But Udinese wing back Jens Stryger Larsen’s flailing arm struck the ball inside the box deep in stoppage time to give Kessie the chance to convert a penalty clocked at 96 minutes and 20 seconds, Milan’s latest goal since April 2017.
Milan have picked up four points from their last four league games and leaders Inter now have the chance to go six points clear at the top of the table by beating relegation-battling Parma on Thursday.
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Amadou Diawara struck late to earn Roma a 2-1 win at Fiorentina that keeps them in the hunt for a top-four finish in Serie A, after wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola scored at both ends.
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Guinean midfielder Diawara turned in Rick Karsdorp’s cross in the 88th minute but was flagged for offside, only for a VAR review to overturn the decision and award the goal.
Spinazzola had scored a superb opener on the volley earlier in the second half to put the visitors in front, only to smash an attempted clearance into his own net after 60 minutes.
Sassuolo earned a 3-3 draw against Napoli with the final kick of the game as Francesco Caputo’s penalty rescued a point for the hosts five minutes after Lorenzo Insigne thought he had won the game for the visitors with a late spot kick of his own.
Napoli twice fought back from behind at the Mapei Stadium before both sides scored penalties in an eventful finale, leaving the visitors with a result that extends their poor recent run of form.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side have picked up seven points in their last five league matches and were knocked out of the Europa League by Spanish side Granada last week.
Atalanta remained fourth and gave newly-appointed Crotone coach Serse Cosmi a debut to forget as they beat the bottom side 5-1 in Bergamo.
Robin Gosens headed in the opener, but Simy equalised with a neat chipped finish to leave the game level at the break.
Yet Atalanta ran away with it in the second half as Jose Luis Palomino, Luis Muriel, Josip Ilicic and Aleksei Miranchuk scored to give Gian Piero Gasperinis side a fourth consecutive league win and send them level with third-placed Juventus on 49 points.
Cagliari climbed out of the relegation zone as Daniele Rugani’s first-half header clinched a 1-0 win at home to Bologna and sealed back-to-back victories for the first time since October.
Coach Leonardo Semplici oversaw a win over Crotone on his debut last week after replacing the sacked Eusebio Di Francesco, and his side picked up another positive result to move one point above Torino into 17th place, although the Turin club have two games in hand.
Genoa and Sampdoria shared the spoils in the ‘Derby della Lanterna’ as Davide Zappacosta scored a superb opener for the hosts, only for a Lorenzo Tonelli header to earn Samp a draw in a battle between two midtable sides.
Goals from Davide Faraoni and Kevin Lasagna either side of Daam Foulon’s own goal earned eighth-placed Hellas Verona a 3-0 win at Benevento, stretching the Calabrian clubs winless league run to nine games and leaving them five points above the relegation zone in 16th.
Ligue 1 – PSG, Lille win in title race
Pablo Sarabia made up for Paris Saint-Germain’s lack of firepower as he earned the French champions a crucial 1-0 win at Bordeaux in an extremely tight Ligue 1 title race.
The Spanish attacking midfielder scored in the 20th minute to put Mauricio Pochettino’s side on 60 points from 28 games, two behind leaders Lille who had Jonathan David’s last-gasp double to thank for a 2-0 victory over Marseille.
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PSG were without the suspended Kylian Mbappe and injured Angel Di Maria and Neymar, while Moise Kean was ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19.
Sarabia started on the right wing with Mauro Icardi the only proper striker on the field and the Spaniard made his mark, breaking the deadlock by whipping a left-footed effort past Benoit Costil after collecting an Idrissa Gueye cross in the area.
Lille appeared on course for their third draw in four games but Canadian striker David saved the day as he tapped home in the last minute after Steve Mandanda parried Jonathan Ikone’s shot into his path and he struck again two minutes into stoppage time.
Lyon forward Memphis Depay created the winning goal for substitute Houssem Aouar as they won 1-0 against Rennes.
Depay sprinted through down the right, but then lost his balance after shrugging off a defender just outside the penalty area. He got quickly back up and slid the ball to Aouar, who clipped the ball neatly into the net.
Lyon had struggled to break down a well-organized Rennes side, whose coach Julien Stephan resigned on Monday after a bad run of form. Tino Kadewere had a goal ruled out for offside midway through the second half, and strike partner Karl Toko Ekambi went close before Depay delivered.
Fifth-place Lens continued their good form with a 3-2 win at St Etienne while sixth-place Metz slipped to a 1-0 home defeat to Angers.
Brest beat Dijon 3-1 at home and Nice won 2-1 against struggling Nimes. Also, Reims beat Nantes 2-1 and Montpellier drew 1-1 with Lorient.
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