LEÃO WITH A LATE WINNER AGAINST THE VIOLA

Plenty of heart, plenty of nerves, plenty of courage. AC Milan had to suffer, but they battled hard and beat Fiorentina thanks to a goal from Leão in the 82nd minute. The Rossoneri deserved to win and celebrated in a packed-out stadium, with the Portuguese’s tenth league goal of the season finally securing the victory at the end of a second half where the Rossoneri created a host of chances. Stefano Pioli's side move to 77 points in the table and thus maintain their grip on top spot with three games left to play.

There's still a long way to go until the end of the season and we have some tricky fixtures coming up, but the Rossoneri put in a gutsy performance again today at San Siro. Such an immense mentality is a source of pride and hope. One step at a time: on Sunday at 20:45 CEST, the Rossoneri take on Verona at the Bentegodi. Fire in our hearts, ice in our veins.

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v FIORENTINA

HOW IT UNFOLDED
Fiorentina started strongly as González and Cabral combined to threaten after just 40 seconds. The Rossoneri responded on the seven-minute mark, with Hernández having a goal ruled out due to Messias being offside in the build-up. The Viola came close after eleven minutes as Igor fired wide from an excellent position following a Fiorentina corner. Shortly afterwards, Giroud had a golden opportunity to open the scoring following Kessie’s through ball, but the Frenchman shot wide with just Terracciano to beat. It was end-to-end stuff. A Viola counter following a mistake from Leão ended with Maignan keeping out Saponara’s right-footed strike. Then, AC Milan almost successfully hit their opponents on the break, but Díaz got the final ball wrong when looking to pick out Hernández. The Rossoneri were really starting to push. In the 33rd minute, Theo beat Duncan to the ball before his cross was punched to the edge of the box by Terracciano; Kessie was waiting but failed to keep his right-footed shot down. Calabria tried his luck from a similar position but, like the Ivorian, lashed the ball over the bar.

AC Milan came agonisingly close shortly after the restart, with Leão unable to control his finish after being found by Giroud. The Rossoneri kept on coming forward as Kessie forced Terracciano into a stop at his near post. In the 53rd minute, Theo got on the end of Tonali’s pass but lifted the ball over the bar with the outside of his left boot. Pioli sent on Ibra on the 67-minute mark, but Fiorentina had the next chance of the match: Maignan displayed stunning reflexes to somehow save Cabral’s close-range header. Just when it seemed like the Rossoneri’s hopes of scoring a winner were fading, Terracciano presented the ball to Leão, who charged towards goal and beat the Viola goalkeeper at his near post: 1-0 to AC Milan in the 82nd minute! In the closing stages, the team showed heart and nerves of steel to keep Fiorentina in check. There were no other dangerous moments as the Rossoneri secured a crucial 1-0 victory.

MATCH DETAILS

AC MILAN 1-0 FIORENTINA

AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernández; Tonali, Kessie (79' Bennacer); Messias (56' Rebić), Díaz (56' Krunić), Leão; Giroud (67' Ibrahimović). Subs.: Mirante, Tătăruşanu; Ballo-Touré, Gabbia, Romagnoli; Bakayoko, Castillejo, Saelemaekers. Coach: Pioli. 

FIORENTINA (4-3-3): Terracciano; Venuti (46' Martínez Quarta), Milenković, Igor, Biraghi; Duncan (67' Torreira), Amrabat, Maleh (59' Bonaventura); González (67' Ikoné), Cabral, Saponara (81' Sottil). Subs.: Drągowski, Rosati; Nastasić, Terzić; Callejón, Kokorin, Piątek. Coach: Italiano. 

Referee: Valeri from Rome. 
Gol: 82' Leão (M).
Booked: 2' Maleh (F), 41' Venuti (F), 72' Martínez Quarta (F), 88' Bennacer (M).

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