Davide Calabria, Sandro Tonali and Rafael Leao netted for AC Milan before Atalanta scored two late goals to give a scare to the visitors.
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AC Milan continued their impressive start to the Serie A season as they beat Atalanta 3-2 in Bergamo on Sunday. The visitors took an early lead within 28 seconds of kick-off through Davide Calabria and then Sandro Tonali extended the lead before the break. Rafael Leao tripled the lead in the 78th minute before Atalanta made a late surge as they scored two goals through Duvan Zapata and Mario Pasalic. Elsewhere, AS Roma defeated Empoli 2-0 at Stadio Olimpico courtesy of goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
It was an extraordinary start for Milan as Theo Hernandez played a through ball for the captain Davide Calabria, who put the ball in the back of the net from the rebound after his initial attempt was blocked by the goalkeeper Juan Musso. In response, at the other end, Zapata went past two Milan defenders before forcing a save from Atalanta goalkeeper Mike Maignan and then Ruslan Malinovsky’s attempt from the rebound was cleared off the line by Fikayo Tomori.
Davide Zappacosta tested Maignan with a low left-footed drive from the edge of the box and then, Zapata’s header from the subsequent corner was parried away by the French custodian.
Atalanta were made to pay for their missed chances as Tonali made it 2-0 for the visitors in the 42nd minute. The Italian midfielder stole the ball from Remo Freuler to go through on goal and fire in at the near bottom corner. It was only his third Serie A goal of his career.
Twelve minutes from time, Rafael Leo added Milan’s third goal of the night. Hernandez dribbled forward and laid the ball to Leao on the left side of the box and the 22-year-old forward slotted the ball past Musso into the far top corner with a scorching strike.
The hosts pulled one back as the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Junior Messias went sliding in with his arm raised to block a Zappacosta’s shot. VAR intervened and a penalty was awarded. Zapata stepped up and converted the spot-kick. There was still enough time for some late flourish as Zapata delivered a low cross from the right for Pasalic to score at the far post in stoppage time.
Milan managed to hold on to the lead and earn their sixth victory of the campaign in seven games. Stefan Pioli’s side now has 19 points, two points adrift of leaders Napoli.
Pellegrini celebrated a new contract and his recall to the Italian national team squad by scoring the opening goal against Empoli. The midfielder penned a new deal to stay in the Italian capital until 2026 before the match. Mkhitaryan found the run of Pellegrini with a through ball and the 25-year-old calmly slotted the ball into the far bottom corner with a slight deflection.
Three minutes after the break, Jose Mourinho’s side doubled the lead as Tammy Abraham stole the ball in the midfield and smashed it onto the underside of the crossbar before Mkhitaryan scored off the rebound.
The win helped Mourinho’s side to 15 points from seven games while Empoli are 10th in the table with nine points from seven games.
