Sandro Tonali said on Sunday that the Serie A title is AC Milan’s only goal of the season after he helped Rossoneri stay in touch with leaders Napoli in a 3-2 win at Atalanta, underlining his scudetto credentials .
Milan came out on top in a frantic encounter to be two points behind Napoli, whose 2–1 win at Fiorentina was their seventh in as many games so far this season, after a tumultuous finish at Bergamo, which saw Atalanta pulled back after scoring two late goals. Three going down with 12 minutes left.
And asked by DAZN if he remembers when Milan won the league in 2003–04, the last time they had 19 points in their first seven games, the 21-year-old said: “No, I was really young then”.
But then he added: “We don’t talk about these things, but it (the league title) is Milan’s only goal this season.”
After listening to Tonelli speak while awaiting his own interview, Milan coach Stefano Pioli praised the midfielder for his positive attitude as he rejoiced with his team’s victory.
“We played really well with intensity, energy and quality. It’s a great end to a difficult set of fixtures and the team is improving in both Serie A and the Champions League,” said Pioli.
There are signs the three-way title race is falling two points behind in third with Inter Milan, while Roma are also in fourth on 15 points after a 2-0 win over Empoli on Sunday.
Tonli Gavis was one of Milan’s best performers at the stadium and captain David Calabria, with just 28 seconds on the clock, put the away team ahead, making the most of goalkeeper Mike Megan holding Atalanta when he matched. Doubled the lead in two minutes. With his second goal of the season from half-time.
Milan kept a lid on Atalanta and should have added to their lead through Alexis Selemachers before Rafael Leo curled into the third home in the 78th minute.
Duvan Zapata’s 86th-minute penalty and a Mario Pasalic tap-in deep in stoppage time kept the game alive until the final whistle, but matched the winners.
“I saw a really strong Milan team, they have qualities that very few teams in Italy have… they really impressed me,” said Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini.
100 percent napoleon
Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli have 21 points thanks to their comeback win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, which came through strikes from Hirving Lozano and Amir Rahmani from either side of half-time.
It was a tough defeat for Fiorentina, who after taking a qualifying lead through Lucas Martínez Quarta had a similar fall at home to Inter a few weeks earlier.
Vincenzo Italiano’s team remains fifth on 12 points, nine behind Napoli and three points behind Roma.
“We suffered a little bit after the move, but we also had situations where we could have put ourselves 3-1, which we didn’t take advantage of,” Spalletti told DAZN.
Lorenzo Pellegrini, who was named in Italy’s squad for the upcoming Nations League Final Four, sent Roma on his way against Empoli with his sixth goal in all competitions in the period three minutes before half-time.
It came on a day when the 25-year-old extended his contract with the club till 2026.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ensured points two minutes after Jose Mourinho’s side resumed with his second campaign, guiding the ball home after Guglielmo Vicario managed to tip Tammy Abraham’s fierce drive into the bar.
Bologna eased the pressure on coach Sinisa Mihajlovic with a comfortable 3-0 win over Lazio, ending a worrying run of results and moving them to ninth place with 11 points.
After the pair drew 3-3 in one of the two matches in the mid-afternoon, Sampdoria are on 15th place with six points, two less than 13th-placed Udinese.
Verona are also on eight points in 12th place after scoring an unbeaten run in four matches as they trounced Spezia 4-0 under new coach Igor Tudor.
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