AC Milan’s French No. 09 striker Olivier Giroud scores the team’s second goal in the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and AS Roma at the San Siro stadium in Milan on January 14, 2024. PHOTO/AFP
Felipe Anderson scored the goal in Lazio’s hard-fought victory in the 58th minute at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, the fifth consecutive win in all competitions for Maurizio Sarri’s side.
A trio of Frenchmen helped AC Milan cement its position in the Serie A Champions League in Sunday’s 3-1 win over lowly Roma.
Yacine Adli’s first goal in Milan from the start, Olivier Giroud’s header ten minutes after the break and Theo Hernandez’s goal gave points to the seven-time European champions, whose victory had a distinctly French flavour at a frigid San Siro.
Milan sits nine places at league leader Inter Milan and took advantage of the drop of points from four other top contenders to consolidate third place in the Italian standings.
Stefano Pioli’s side are nine points behind Lazio, who moved up to fifth after beating Lecce 1-0 in Sunday’s opener, while fourth-placed Fiorentina are eight points behind after a 2-2 draw with lowly Udinese.
“We wanted to bounce back after being knocked out of the cup by Atalanta. . . we never gave up and I’m very proud of the team spirit I saw today,” said Giroud, who also assisted Hernandez’s goal with a brilliant backheel.
“Theo and I know each other well and I knew he was going to blow up on me. I was a bit lucky because I think I pushed the defender, but I’m very satisfied for him. “
A third straight league win came at the expense of a weak Roma, without talisman Paulo Dybala and once again lacking creativity in attack.
Jose Mourinho’s side are ninth after a largely disappointing performance, enhanced only by a penalty from Leandro Paredes in the 69th minute, absolutely contrary to the course of the game.
It was another hard defeat for Roma after being knocked out of the Italian Cup midweek by local rivals Lazio, who they trail by four points.
As it turns out, the magic has run out for Mourinho in Rome, where he is adored for reaching two European finals in back-to-back seasons and winning the inaugural Europa Conference League, but now receives complaints about his poor performances and results.
Lazio looking for the top four
Felipe Anderson crashed in the only goal of Lazio’s hard-fought win in the 58th minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, a fifth straight success in all competitions for Maurizio Sarri’s team.
Lazio are breathing down Fiorentina’s necks, with Bologna a further point back in sixth after losing 2-1 at Cagliari, after M’Bala Nzola saved a point for the Tuscan outfit from the penalty spot with three minutes remaining.
Lazio and Fiorentina now travel to Riyadh for the four-team Italian Super Cup.
Fiorentina will open the tournament on Wednesday with its semifinal against long-suffering champion Napoli, while Lazio will face Inter Milan the following day.
However, Sarri is not satisfied with the new format of the Super Cup and made his feelings very clear to reporters after his team’s victory.
“Everyone knows what I think, that this tournament has nothing to do with sport, we just take it and run,” Sarri said.
“We’re going around the world with our hat in our hands.”
Before kick-off in the Italian capital Lazio paid tribute to their former manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who on Wednesday said he had no more than a year to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Eriksson won the Serie A title in 2000 and the last European Cup Winners’ Cup the previous year with a star-studded Lazio team consisting of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Juan Veron, Alessandro Nesta and Marcello Salas.
“My Way” blared over the loudspeakers as enthusiasts unfurled a banner that read, “War Now. Sven, we’re with you. “
The match was played in front of fans despite Lazio being hit with one-match stand closures for supporters racially abusing Romelu Lukaku during the midweek Italian Cup win over local rivals Roma.
Lazio will serve the suspension in their next home game against Napoli at the end of the month.