Hernández nets 2 as Milan rallies to stay unbeaten in Italy

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This article was published 13/12/2020 (2115 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MILAN – Theo Hernández scored twice to help AC Milan recover from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Parma on Sunday and preserve its unbeaten league record.

Milan remained top of Serie A but had its advantage cut to three points above second-place Inter Milan after the Nerazzurri scored three goals late on to win 3-1 at Cagliari.

Napoli and Juventus remained a point behind Inter after beating Sampdoria and Genoa, respectively.

Milan was without a number of players through injury, including star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and lost another player early on when defender Matteo Gabbia had to be replaced by Pierre Kalulu.

Kalulu was making his Serie A debut and was partly at fault for the opening goal as he was beaten by Gervinho, who crossed for Hernani to fire Parma into the lead in the 13th minute.

Milan had a goal disallowed and hit the woodwork four times before Parma doubled its tally with Jasmin Kurtic’s header in the 56th.

However, Hernández headed Milan back into the match two minutes later and scored the equalizer in stoppage time, just as the Rossoneri appeared to be heading for their first league defeat since March.

LATE RECOVERY

Inter left it late before helping to ease a miserable week.

Nicolò Barella, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Romelu Lukaku scored in the final 15 minutes after Riccardo Sottil had given Cagliari the lead shortly before halftime.

Inter was looking to pick itself up after another early Champions League exit. The Nerazzurri drew 0-0 against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday and failed to progress from the group stage for the third successive year.

Inter started brightly but were denied several times by fine stops from Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno.

And it was Cagliari which took the lead three minutes from the break with its first real scoring opportunity. Sottil’s initial shot was blocked but he fired home the rebound.

Inter wasted more opportunities before finally equalizing in the 77th minute. A corner was punched clear by Cragno but came out to Barella, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

And Inter turned it around completely in the 84th with a header from D’Ambrosio, who had only been on the field for about a minute.

Cagliari pushed hard for the equalizer and was caught out by a rapid counterattack that was finished by Lukaku.

RONALDO PENALTIES

Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 100th Juventus match by again scoring two penalties to help his side win 3-1 at Genoa.

Ronaldo had scored two penalties in Juve’s 3-0 win at Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.

He converted another two spot kicks in the final 12 minutes in Genoa.

Paulo Dybala had given Juventus the lead in the 57th minute but Stefano Sturaro levelled four minutes later.

OTHER MATCHES

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Napoli remained level on points with Juventus after beating Sampdoria 2-1.

Roma was two points further back after thrashing Bologna 5-1. All six goals in Bologna came in the first half.

Atalanta also won comfortably, with a 3-0 victory against Fiorentina.

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