AC Milan’s hold over Inter continued on Sunday as they held their city rivals to a 1-1 draw which put a dent in I Nerazzurri’s title hopes.
Inter were hoping it would be third time lucky in the Derbi Di Milano on Sunday after losing 3-2 to I Rossoneri in the Supercoppa Italiana in January and 2-1 in the league back in September; and they almost lost again were it not for a Stefan de Vrij equaliser deep into stoppage time. As England wingback Kyle Walker made his debut for Milan a goal from Tijjani Reijnders on the cusp of half time gave his new team a lead and they held out until the 94th.
Inter dominated for much of the first half and Lautaro Martinez twice came close to opening the scoring but I Rossoneri gradually got into the game as Rafeal Leao started to stretch the Nerazzurri defence. Reijnders had already forced Yann Sommer into a fingertip save but the keeper couldn’t save his next effort as he pounced on a tasty cross from Leao which the Inter keeper could not hold onto.
In the second half Martinez had the ball in the net for the second time and his effort was again ruled out and then Yann Bisseck met a corner and hit the post with Milan keeper Mike Maignan watching as it bounced to safety. Reijnders had a chance to double his tally and see the game out when Christian Pulisic found him in space, but his shot was straight at Sommer. And, after Marcus Thuram and Denzil Dumfries both struck the same post that Bisseck hit, De Vrij finally breached the Milan defence when he poked home in the last action of the game.
Napoli face Roma in the late Sunday kick-off and can stretch their lead at the top to five points with a win.
Third placed Atalanta lost ground after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Torino as Capocannoniere leader Mateo Retegui missed a penalty chance to win all three points. It was a highly frustrating afternoon for the Bergamo faithful who watched their team totally dominate Il Toro but without making an early breakthrough, Raoul Bellanova having a goal disallowed. With 22 shots and ten on target La Dea only managed one goal when Berat Djimsiti powered home a header late in the first half, and they only held the lead for five minutes before Torino’s Guillermo took advantage of slack marking to nod home the leveller.
With just over a quarter of an hour left to play Atalanta had a golden opportunity when Adrien Tameze fouled Retegui and the referee pointed to the spot. But, oddly, Retegui’s spot kick lacked power or conviction and it was easily saved. It was a day of missed chances and the latest Serie A 2025 betting odds, here at SBOTOP, have pushed La Dea further out of the race which, in all probability, leaves Inter Milan and Napoli to battle it out.
Kolo Muani hits the ground running
Juventus came back from a goal behind to thrash Empoli 4-1 as Randal Kolo Muani scored a brace to make it three goals from two games since his loan move from Paris Saint-Germain. The 26-year-old France star scored I Bianconeri’s goal in a 2-1 defeat to Napoli last week and missed the midweek loss to Benfica in the Champions League. But his return to the team meant a return to winning ways, but only after the Old Lady fell behind to a headed goal by ex-Juve star Mattia De Sciglio with just four minutes on the clock. It could have been worse for Juventus by half time had VAR not cancelled out a penalty awarded to the visitors.
Thiago Motta, who was instrumental in Kolo Muani’s move to Turin, did the business at half time and his team responded in some style. The new man found space to drive home the leveller on the hour and added a second when he deflected in a shot from Timothy Weah. Juve’s senior striker Dusan Vlahovic made an entrance from the bench and the Serb scored a scorcher after Empoli had gone down to ten men, following the dismissal of Youssef Maleh. With the clock running down Vlahovic beat two defenders before lashing his shot high into the roof of the net. Francisco Conceicao, on loan from Porto, still had time to make it 4-1 as Juventus moved up to fourth while Empoli are just one point and one place above the drop zone, as the bottom three, Monza, Parma and Venezia all lost too.
It was a welcome and handsome win for Juventus but the pick of the Serie A 2025 highlights came in Florence where Viola striker Moise Kean pulled off an acrobatic volley in a 2-1 win for Fiorentina over Genoa. Rolando Mandragora stood up a lovely cross and as the ball dropped Kean turned and flicked it home with the outside of his right boot. Albert Gudmundsson scored the second against his old club before Koni De Winter halved the deficit with a free header. The visitors will feel they should have left Florence with something, with 60 per cent possession and 17 shots to seven. But with six to three on target La Viola was clinical saw out a deserved victory to cement their position in fifth.
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