Late Jovic goal rescues point for ailing Milan at Salernitana
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SALERNO: Luka Jovic came off the bench to score a 90th minute goal which saw AC Milan come away from bottom club Salernitana with a 2-2 draw in Serie A on Friday.
Serbia forward Jovic lashed home his third goal in as many league games from Olivier Giroud’s deft knock-down to stop third-placed Milan from falling to an embarrassing defeat.
Antonio Candreva seemed to have shot Salernitana to a shock win when his long-distance effort squirmed under usually reliable Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan in the 63rd minute.
Candreva also set up Federico Fazio’s leveller after Fikayo Tomori had nodded the away side ahead in the 17th minute.
Jovic’s equaliser leaves Salernitana on nine points, four behind Udinese who sit just outside the relegation zone, while Milan remain third on 33 points, provisionally four adrift of Juventus in second place and eight behind leaders Inter Milan.
“It leaves you with regrets, like so many other times this season,” Milan manager Stefano Pioli told DAZN.
“The hardest part was to make the breakthrough, which we did and controlled it well. We were controlling the match but we got distracted and we made mistakes that we can’t afford at this level.
“We shouldn’t have allowed Salernitana to take the lead and get back into the game. We were able to pull it back, but it wasn’t the result we wanted. We still have a lot of work to do to become a great team.”
Fiorentina moved into fourth spot with their 1-0 win away to Monza on Friday with Lucas Beltran the scorer, they are on 30 points and move two points ahead of Bologna who host Atalanta on Saturday.
Earlier Lazio strolled past Empoli to snap a five-match winless streak away from home, with Matteo Guendouzi and Mattia Zaccagni netting in a 2-0 win at lowly Empoli.
Maurizio Sarri’s side lost both Ciro Immobile and midfield talisman to injury midway through the first half but did enough to beat Empoli, who are one point behind Udinese in 18th.
Lazio are ninth on 24 points from 17 matches, provisionally one point behind local rivals AS Roma.
Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2023
