Christian Pulisic propelled AC Milan to second place in Serie A with Sunday’s goal in a 1-0 win over lowly Empoli, while Juve drew 2-2 at home through Atalanta.
U. S. star Pulisic gave Milan a disjointed victory with his eighth league goal in an encouraging debut season in Italy, a deflected shot from hapless Empoli defender Sebastiano Luperto.
The 25-year-old has had difficult times at Chelsea, but since moving from London to Milan last summer, he has scored 10 goals in all competitions and scored six more.
“It’s a smart feeling, it’s smart for us to get the 3 points. It’s not a great goal, it was a bit of luck, but in the end we made it,” Pulisic told DAZN.
“I feel like I’m at my best, I’ve gained a lot of confidence here from the staff, my teammates, the city and the fans. So I feel very smart here. “
Stefano Pioli’s side have been home rivals for 16 years and champions Inter Milan, who beat fourth-placed Bologna on Saturday.
Milan now turn their attention to Thursday’s Europa League round of 16 second leg against Slavia Prague with a 4-2 home advantage.
Empoli are a point above the relegation zone but have played in a way that suggests they will be smart enough to avoid relegation under survival specialist Davide Nicola.
Milan moved into second place ahead of Juventus, whose poor form continued against sixth-placed Atalanta in Turin.
JUVE WIN AGAIN
Teun Koopmeiners opened the scoring and finished off the scoring as Atalanta earned a draw that left them four points behind Bologna, who are behind the Champions League.
Juve looked set to regain second place in Milan when goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Arkadiusz Milik gave the hosts the lead in the minute.
Instead, Juve are one point behind Milan, having racked up just six in their last seven games and gone from being a known challenger to winning in similar fashion in a few weeks.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s Atalanta have 47 points with fifth-placed Roma visiting Fiorentina in Sunday’s final game.
Lecce has 25 points with Empoli in 15th place after being 1-0 at home through Verona following an early goal from Michael Folorunsho.
It wasn’t the biggest story of this attack, though, as coach Roberto D’Aversa headbutted Verona striker Thomas Henry after a heated encounter in southern Italy.
A stampede broke out between the players and as the final whistle blew, the 48-year-old D’Aversa headbutted Henry as the French striker made his way to the dressing room before both men were sent off.
D’Aversa later admitted to Sky Sport that his behaviour was “unforgivable” but that he had only gone out on the pitch “to check and avoid the sending off of my players because Verona were provoking us a lot”.
Verona was promoted after winning back-to-back matches for the first time since August.
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