Pulisic shoots Milan second as Juve stalls again

MILAN — Christian Pulisic fired AC Milan up to second in Serie A with the only goal in Sunday's 1-0 win over lowly Empoli while Juve was held to an entertaining 2-2 home draw by Atalanta.

US star Pulisic gave Milan a scrappy win with his eighth league goal of an encouraging debut season in Italy, a deflected strike off unfortunate Empoli defender Sebastiano Luperto.

The 25-year-old had a difficult time at Chelsea but since moving to Milan from London last summer he has scored 10 times in all competitions and set up six more.

"It's a good feeling, it was good for us to get the three points. It wasn't a nice goal, it was a bit lucky but at the end of the day we take it," Pulisic told DAZN.

"I feel like I'm in some of my best form, I've been given a lot of confidence and trust here from the staff, from my teammates, the city and the fans. So I'm feeling really, really good here."

Stefano Pioli's side is 16 points behind local rival and champion-elect Inter, who beat fourth-placed Bologna on Saturday.

Milan now turns its attentions to Thursday's Europa League last-16 return leg with Slavia Prague, with a 4-2 lead from the home leg.

Empoli is one point above the relegation zone but performed in a manner which suggested it should be good enough to avoid the drop with survival specialist Davide Nicola.

Turin tussle

Milan took second spot off Juventus whose poor run of form continued against sixth-placed Atalanta in Turin.

Teun Koopmeiners both opened and completed the scoring as Atalanta snatched a draw which left it four points behind Bologna who is in the final Champions League spot.

Juve looked set to retake second from Milan when quick-fire goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Arkadiusz Milik put the host ahead in the 70th minute.

Instead Juve is a point behind Milan after picking up just six from its last seven matches and going from title challenger to also-ran in the space of weeks.

"We played well against a good team... we've gained a point on Bologna and Atalanta is now 11 points behind us," said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.

"Our aim is to finish in the top four. I can't criticize the team, it was a tricky atmosphere at halftime and they reacted well. The effort has never been lacking."

Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta is a point behind Roma who stayed fifth thanks to Diego Llorente's last-gasp leveler which earned the capital club a 2-2 draw at Fiorentina, whose penalty curse continued.

Penalty pain

Llorente smashed in the equalizer in the fifth minute of stoppage time to snatch a draw after goalkeeper Mile Svilar kept Roma in the game by saving Cristiano Biraghi's penalty in the 81st minute.

Roma was on a high after hammering Brighton in the Europa League on Thursday but goals from Luca Ranieri and Rolando Mandragora had Fiorentina deservedly ahead in Florence until Llorente struck.

Svilar's crucial save meant that Fiorentina has failed to score from the penalty spot four times this Serie A season.

"All those players you've seen miss are penalty takers. We can't do any more than work on them in training and taking them when they come along," said Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano.

"We pay for it every time we miss. Every time we miss a penalty we end up throwing away points. It's something we have to change."

Lecce is level on 25 points with Empoli in 15th after being beaten 1-0 at home by Verona following an early strike from Michael Folorunsho.

However, that wasn't the biggest story from that match as coach Roberto D'Aversa head-butted Verona striker Thomas Henry after a stormy encounter in southern Italy.

D'Aversa later admitted to Sky Sports that his behavior was "inexcusable" before then claiming on Instagram he never head-butted Henry at all.

AFP