Fiorentina left fuming as Leao brace fires AC Milan to top of Serie A

MILAN — Rafael Leao shot AC Milan to the top of Serie A with a brace in Sunday's 2-1 win over Fiorentina which was enraged by the "scandalous" awarding of the penalty that decided the game.

Portugal winger Leao pushed Milan one point ahead of local rivals Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma with a coolly-taken spot-kick, given for what looked like a soft foul on Santiago Gimenez by Fabiano Parisi, with four minutes remaining.

That goal capped a fine first league start of the season for Leao, and came after he drew the host level with a brilliantly struck effort from distance in the 63rd minute.

"He's an amazing talent. From outside when I used to watch him, and, now, when I train with him, I see he is one of the best players in the world," Luka Modric told DAZN.

"The incredible thing is that he can still improve, it just depends on him. I hope these two goals can help him grow his confidence and be the main guy for us. He will be very important and we will depend a lot on him. He showed why tonight."

Leao's goals are a boost for Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has had to deal with a spate of injuries, most recently to key players Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic who were hurt on international duty and will not be back for weeks.

The 26-year-old's brace canceled out Robin Gosens' opener in the 55th minute for Fiorentina, which is still seeking its first league win of the season under former Milan coach Stefano Pioli and sits in the relegation zone.

But Pioli said the awarding of the decisive penalty, given by referee Livio Marinelli following a check of the pitchside monitor, would "encourage players to dive at the slightest touch".

Fiorentina's sporting director Daniele Prade was even more blunt, blasting Marinelli for not having "the courage to back his original decision".

"These are those incidents that change everything, we were playing to win the game, and you just can't do things like that. It's scandalous," said Prade.

"Gimenez was on the floor for 20 minutes and he was barely touched, it was almost grotesque... We didn't deserve to lose, and we definitely didn't deserve to lose in that way."

Como sinks Juve

Earlier, Nico Paz shone again for Como with a goal and assist in a landmark 2-0 win over Juventus, which lifted the minnow club up to sixth place.

Argentina international Paz set up Marc-Oliver Kempf to sweep home in the fourth minute at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, before making sure of Como's first win against Juve since 1952 with a wonderful individual goal 12 minutes from full time.

Owned by tobacco giant Djarum and coached by former Spain and Barcelona star Cesc Fabregas, ambitious Como is on 12 points from seven matches, only four behind Milan.

Paz, 21, was signed from Real Madrid in August last year, and, after an impressive debut season in Italy, he has been a key part of Como's strong start to this campaign with four goals and as many assists.

"He's a great player, I'm not worried about his future, because I can tell when a player is hungry, whether they have the right mentality to become a top player or whether they're a flash in the pan," said Fabregas to DAZN.

Paz's fine display on Sunday left Juve without a win since a dramatic victory over archrival Inter just over a month ago.

The defeat ended a tough week for Juve, which not only lost starting center-back Gleison Bremer until the end of the year with a knee ligament tear, but is also under investigation by European governing body UEFA for possible financial fair play breaches.

The challenges keep coming, too. With just two points from its first two matches in this season's Champions League, on Wednesday, Juve travels to play Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Riccardo Orsolini helped move Bologna a point above Como and into fifth spot with his fifth goal of the season in a comfortable 2-0 win at Cagliari.

AFP