2 weeks ago
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AC Milan had to come from behind against Fiorentina, but they had Rafael Leao to thank as they completed a second-half turnaround to win 2-1.
After a rather dull opening 45 minutes, Robin Gosens silenced the over 70,000 home fans on hand as he scored early in the second half for the away side. However, Leao responded minutes later, curling in a shot from the edge of the box.
Inside the final 10 minutes the game looked to be heading for a draw, that was until Fabiano Parisi brought down Santiago Gimenez inside the box. Leao converted from 12 yards, sending David De Gea the wrong way to complete the comeback.
The result means that the Rossoneri go back top of the Serie A standings with their sixth win in eight games, and it condemns Fiorentina to another round in the bottom three with pressure mounting on Stefano Pioli after an unhappy homecoming.
Milan came into the game contending with a real injury crisis as Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, Christopher Nkunku, Pervis Estupinan, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ardon Jashari all missed out due to various issues.
As a result, Massimiliano Allegri made three changes from the draw against Juventus before the international break. The likes of Zachary Athekame, Davide Bartesaghi and Samuele Ricci got the nod, while Alexis Saelemaekers joined Rafael Leao in the front two.
Milan had the first chance of the game in the fifth minute and it fell to Fikayo Tomori. Luka Modric stood over a free-kick looking like he would whip the ball in but Bartesaghi’s out-swinger ricocheted around inside the box before Tomori fired over.
After a lull in proceedings, the next chance also fell to a centre-back inside the box and via the exact same circumstances. This time it was a cross from a free-kick on the right side and this time it was Strahinja Pavlovic who the bobble fell to, yet he too hooked his effort over the bar with the goal gaping.
The Rossoneri continued to have the lion’s share of possession but were struggling to break the visitors down, with Rafael Leao quite isolated. However, he wasn’t too far away from getting on the end of an Athekame cross just after the half-hour mark, after a lovely driving run and through-ball from Luka Modric.
The highlight of the first half from a technical ability standpoint probably came from Mike Maignan, who – when pressed by Moise Kean right on the byline – produced a brilliant turn that completely sent the striker the wrong way. At the other end, the final attempt before the break was Saelemaekers curling a shot about 20 yards wide on his right foot.
After a tame opening to the second half, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia was the first one to let fly with an attempt from distance, and it fizzed wide of the near post while Maignan watched it.
Ten minutes after the break, the away side took the lead to stun the San Siro crowd. A corner wasn’t properly cleared and a cross was sent back in to the far post where Luca Ranieri was on hand to head back into a dangerous area. Robin Gosens was on hand to fire into an empty net as Maignan’s parry hit Gabbia and fell to him.
Allegri responded to his side going behind by making a change: Athekame was the one who made way, with Santiago Gimenez coming on in a clear switch to playing a front two and Saelemaekers on the right.
Having been quiet all game, Rafael Leao provided a reminder of exactly what he can do right on the hour mark as he brought Milan back level. He picked up possession a bit deeper and just over to the left side, taking advantage of the space that he was given to surge into and curling a beautiful right-footed shot inside the far post.
⚽️ GOAL RAFAEL LEAO! 😍
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) October 19, 2025
As was to be expected, Milan had the wind in their sails after the equalising goal and set about taking the lead. A couple of headers from crosses briefly troubled De Gea: the first was once from Gimenez and the second from Fofana, but neither dangerous chances. At the other end, Dodo fired a first-time shot over with the outside of his boot from 20 yards.
With a quarter of an hour left, De Gea made a brilliant save to keep his side in it. Pavlovic sent Bartesaghi away down the left side and his cross was flicked towards goal first time by Gimenez, yet the Spanish goalkeeper stuck up an instinctive right hand and tipped it over.
There was a flash point in the game with eight minutes left when Gimenez went down inside the box holding his face. A ball came in from the left and fell to the Mexican who had one bite at it and was pulled back by Parisi going for the second ball. The referee took a look at it on the monitor, and pointed to the spot.
Leao, who had scored the equalising goal, took on the responsibility on from 12 yards knowing that Milan had actually missed over 50% of their penalties since the start of 2024. You wouldn’t have been able to guess though, as the Portuguese rolled it calmly into the bottom left corner, sending De Gea the wrong way.
⚽️ RAFAEL LEAO PUTS US AHEAD! 🔥
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) October 19, 2025
Fiorentina put the Milan box under siege in the final few moments but they were unable to get past the line of giants, one that was bolstered when Koni De Winter came on, while Balentien also got a late cameo.
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