AC Milan lose to Lazio & miss chance to close in on Inter in Serie A title fight

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ac-milan/8Sa8HInO/"]Rossoneri[/a] had all the motivation they needed to take away all three points from the capital after league leaders [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/inter/Iw7eKK25/"]Inter Milan[/a] were held to a draw by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atalanta/8C9JjMXu/"]Atalanta[/a] on Saturday. Therefore, it was somewhat surprising that a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lazio/URcSl02h/"]Biancocelesti[/a] side languishing in mid-table made the brighter start.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dele-bashiru-fisayo/AF8BqWgI/"]Fisayo Dele-Bashiru[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tavares-nuno/pY6E7S2D/"]Nuno Tavares[/a] both forced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maignan-mike/S6gN2QNC/"]Mike Maignan[/a] into action in the opening exchanges, before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/taylor-kenneth/rH62aAon/"]Kenneth Taylor[/a]’s angled strike rattled the crossbar.[/p][p][b]That served as a warning sign for what was to come, as Maurizio Sarri’s side broke the deadlock in the 26th minute through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/isaksen-gustav/d0vohCHH/"]Gustav Isaksen[/a]. The Dane latched onto [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/marusic-adam/tC46HZrA/"]Adam Marusic[/a]’s long pass forward and outsmuscled [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/estupinan-pervis/OIhsN1nG/"]Pervis Estupinan[/a] before nodding the ball down and firing home a left-footed finish which nestled in at the far post.[/b][/p][embed guid="919992cf-25e7-474c-89cd-3f9a765873fa" url="https://x.com/SerieA_EN/status/2033276054060625978" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Biancocelesti continued to look threatening on the break, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maldini-daniel/txSCnXec/"]Daniel Maldini[/a] bore down on goal, but he could only shoot straight at Maignan.[/p][p]Milan were looking comparatively sluggish before the interval, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pulisic-christian/vTuaEfRq/"]Christian Pulisic[/a] had a chance to restore parity after half-time when his strike was parried to safety by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/motta-edoardo/ATMse0OQ/"]Edoardo Motta[/a].[/p][p]The United States international scuffed a separate chance moments later, with the ball rising kindly for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fofana-youssouf/dn3cCK1H/"]Youssouf Fofana[/a], but the Frenchman could only head the ball straight at the Lazio shot-stopper.[/p][p]The Rossoneri were really struggling to find their flow going forward, with Motta doing well to parry away Pulisic’s cross from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leao-rafael/AqOPWN5s/"]Rafael Leao[/a].[/p][p][b]The Portuguese forward was withdrawn not long afterwards, prompting a rather fraught exchange with Allegri as he left the pitch before he threw a water bottle to the ground in anger on the bench.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/athekame-zachary/SKo5ZCrQ/"]Zachary Athekame[/a] thought he had equalised with a well-taken finish from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/modric-luka/bZWyoJnA/"]Luka Modric[/a]’s corner, but the effort was ruled out after the Switzerland U21 international handled the ball before converting a very tidy finish past Motta.[/p][p]Milan were growing in belief, with substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nkunku-christopher/8liaG2W0/"]Christopher Nkunku[/a] proving to be a real handful down the left flank. The pressure was unrelenting heading towards the closing stages, as Modric blazed his shot over the bar.[/p][p]However, their efforts were ultimately in vain, and they could not prevent the Rossoneri from succumbing to just a third league defeat of the season, leaving them eight points adrift of Inter.[/p][p]Meanwhile, despite seeing Sarri dismissed in stoppage time, these three points serve as a huge morale-booster for a Biancocelesti side whose season has been marred by off-field issues. They claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since February 2025 and moved up one place in the table to ninth.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/isaksen-gustav/d0vohCHH/"]Gustav Isaksen[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lazio/URcSl02h/"]Lazio[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ac-milan-8Sa8HInO/lazio-URcSl02h/summary/stats/?mid=Eom5qnEj"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="de3e0887-c93c-49a8-be14-6d985922f253" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="98ff2f97-b4cc-486a-81c7-92f89527fe87" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /]