MILAN: What was hyped as the first “American derby” in Serie A was won by the newest US-owned team with a last-gasp goal. Patrick Cutrone came off the bench to score five minutes into stoppage time for AC Milan to beat AS Roma 2-1 in an electrifying clash on Friday.

It was the first meeting between the clubs since US-based hedge fund Elliott Management took over control of Milan last month after the club’s former Chinese owner, Li Yonghong, missed a deadline to repay part of a loan.

Roma have been in American hands since 2011, when a group of four Boston executives bought the club.

Franck Kessie had gotten AC Milan off the mark after 40 minutes with Cutrone converting a defence-splitting pass by Gonzalo Higuain to hand Roma their first defeat in over three years at the San Siro. Defender Federico Fazio had pulled Roma level 1-1 on the hour mark.

Both sides had a goal disallowed after referee Marco Guida consulted the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Higuain seeing his effort scrapped for offside while Roma’s World Cup winner Steven Nzonzi was adjudged to have handled the ball.

Both sides had been looking to put stuttering starts to the season behind them with Gennaro Gattuso’s Milan losing 3-2 at Napoli last week despite leading by two goals. Milan’s opening game against Genoa at the San Siro had been postponed because of the bridge disaster in the western port city.

“There were huge regrets over the defeat to Napoli,” said Gattuso. “But it’s only the second match of the season. I can’t talk about a turning point after two games. I know how our lads work and that we still need to become a team in some areas.”

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2018