Leao wows to give new Milan owners winning welcome

MILAN－In front of the club's new owners, Rafael Leao inspired AC Milan to a 3-2 victory over fierce rival Inter Milan in a fiery Serie A derby on Saturday.

With his teammates and coach Stefano Pioli, Leao celebrated wildly with the fans after the match as they joyously danced and sang "Pioli's on fire" (to the tune of Freed from Desire).

"Apart from the song, it is the energy that makes me so happy. And sharing that with the fans," Pioli said. "It was an important match ... I am really a happy manager."

Leao had a hand in all three Milan goals, scoring two and setting up the other for Olivier Giroud.

Marcelo Brozovic gave Inter the lead in the 21st minute and Edin Dzeko pulled one back for the Nerazzurri in the 67th.

"In order to improve, you need talent and intelligence. Rafa has talent and he is a very intelligent guy," Pioli said of Leao.

"You need to give youngsters the time to grow and the freedom to make mistakes. We try to put him in the best conditions: he's one of our weapons, not the only one, but an important one. ... Rafa is someone who understands, listens, and knows that he must never be satisfied. He knows that with this talent he can aim for the skies."

Milan moved to the top of Serie A.Napoli joined the defending champion after winning 2-1 at Lazio, which fell to its first defeat. Earlier, Juventus struggled to draw 1-1 at Fiorentina.

Milan announced the closing of its latest ownership change on Wednesday, when RedBird Capital Partners took a controlling interest and baseball's New York Yankees a minority stake. Gerry Cardinale, the founder and managing partner of RedBird, was in the stands at San Siro for the Derby della Madonnina.

Inter broke the deadlock against the run of play when Lautaro Martinez backheeled to Joaquin Correa, who released Brozovic to slot into the bottom left corner.

Boos rang out from Milan fans every time former player Hakan Calhanoglu touched the ball, and it was much to their delight that a wayward pass from the Turkish midfielder led to the equalizer seven minutes later. Sandro Tonali intercepted the ball and raced forward before side-footing it across for Leao to blast in.

It was all Milan as Inter struggled to get out of its own half. The Rossoneri went ahead when Leao picked out Giroud and his flicked effort bobbled past hapless Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.

Leao doubled his tally six minutes later with a magnificent goal as he shimmied past three Inter defenders before firing into the bottom right corner from a tight angle.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi rang the changes and two substitutes had an immediate impact; Dzeko fired Henrikh Mkhitaryan's cross in off the left post.

United States defender Sergino Dest was an unused substitute after joining Milan on loan from Barcelona on Thursday.

Toothless Juve

There was more disappointment for Juventus as it didn't even have a shot on target in the second half in Florence, while new signing Leandro Paredes gave away a penalty.

Fellow new signing Arkadiusz Milik gave Juve the lead in the ninth minute with his second goal in as many matches.

Fiorentina equalized from a counterattack that was finished by Christian Kouame in the 29th.

Just before halftime, Fiorentina was awarded a penalty for a handball by Paredes. But Mattia Perin, deputizing again for the injured Wojciech Szczesny, pushed Luka Jovic's spot-kick onto a post.

Juventus has saved four of the last seven penalties it has faced in Serie A.

Napoli's new signings shone as Kim Min-jae and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia canceled out Mattia Zaccagni's early opener for Lazio.

Agencies via Xinhua