Two added time goals from Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze earned Milan an unlikely 3-2 win at home to struggling Parma in a dramatic game at San Siro on Sunday.
The win moves Milan to sixth in the standings, while Parma are just above the relegation zone in 17th. Parma took the lead in the 24th minute through Matteo Cancellieri before Milan equalised from the penalty spot, with Christian Pulisic converting seven minutes before the break.
Enrico Del Prato put Parma back in front with just 10 minutes remaining but Reijnders and Chukwueze struck late to earn the home side all three points.
Parma made the breakthrough with the first real chance. Emanuele Valeri played a ball across the pitch from the left and a slip from Théo Hernandez allowed Cancellieri to gain possession and cut inside before curling a shot low into the far corner from outside the area. Milan needed to rely on a penalty to get back on level terms. The Parma keeper Zion Suzuki pushed Strahinja Pavlovic in the back at a corner kick and while Suzuki went the right way, Pulisic drilled the spot kick low into the corner.
A poor pass out from the back by Ismael Bennacer gave Parma possession and, after Maignan saved the initial shot from Drissa Camara, Del Prato poked home the rebound and Parma looked set to stun the frustrated San Siro crowd. Pavlovic had a goal disallowed two minutes from time but Milan somehow found a way to not only salvage a draw but to steal victory.
Reijnders beat the offside trap from a Yunus Musah pass and coolly slipped his shot past Suzuki and when, three minutes later, Pavlovic’s header bounced off Chukwueze’s thigh in front of goal, Suzuki was unable to keep the ball out of the net.
In La Liga, Randy Nteka came off the bench to score two goals in three minutes to give Rayo Vallecano a last-gasp 2-1 win over Girona. The game came alive when the former Tottenham attacking midfielder Bryan Gil’s header put visitors Girona ahead in the 58th minute. Iván Martín lifted a cross from the right wing that went untouched through the crowded box before finding Gil lurking behind the defence. Gil nodded in a close-range header that went under the Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla.
Rayo finally scored the equaliser following a spell of pressure in the 80th minute when substitute Nteka fired home a rebound. After he missed an absolute sitter from close range, Nteka redeemed himself three minutes later when he struck a first-touch effort from inside the box that gave the home side the win.
Barcelona broke their four-match winless streak in the league with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Valencia, with Fermín López scoring an impressive double and adding two assists.
Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring after three minutes with a right-footed shot that found the bottom left corner after Lamine Yamal’s precise cross. The Dutch midfielder continued to impress and played a key role in Barça doubling the lead. His pass allowed Alejandro Balde to set up Ferran Torres, who steered the ball into the net. Raphinha added a third before the 15-minute mark, taking advantage of a mistake by Giorgi Mamardashvili. The Valencia goalkeeper was caught in no-man’s land as he raced out to close down the Brazilian, who calmly slid the ball into the empty net.
López put the icing on the cake in a frenetic first half, adding a fourth on 24 minutes and a fifth before the break with a powerful long-range shot from the right. Hugo Duro grabbed a consolation for Valencia after the break with a shot from close range. But Barcelona continued to dominate and Robert Lewandowski added a sixth before an unfortunate own goal from César Tárrega wrapped up the scoring.
In Serie A, Inter delivered a commanding performance as they cruised to a 4-0 victory at Lecce to stay on the heels of european-football-napoli-juventus-bayern-munich-leverkusen” data-link-name=”in body link”>the league leaders Napoli. The result kept Inter second in the standings with 50 points, three behind Napoli with a game in hand. Lecce sit fourth from bottom with 20 points.
Meanwhile, in Ligue 1, Marseille were beaten 2-0 by Nice to make a late-season title challenge even more unlikely for Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Evann Guessand and Mohamed-Ali Cho found the net for Nice. The result leaves Paris Saint-Germain 10 points clear of Marseille at the summit and looking destined for a fourth straight title. “It was a deserved defeat tonight. We played badly from start to finish,” said De Zerbi. “I’m a bit disappointed and sorry. When we lose, we all lose together, me first. We have to take responsibility for this defeat, I take mine. It can happen because we’re not an invincible team.”
