COMO: AC Milan came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory at Como on Thursday, with Adrien Rabiot scoring twice to keep the away side in the Serie A title race.

Milan are second in the standings on 43 points, three behind rivals Inter Milan and three clear of Napoli in third, while Como are sixth with 34 points.

Como made the brighter start and took the lead after 10 minutes when Marc-Oliver Kempf rose to head home a corner.

Despite the hosts controlling much of the first half, Milan struck in stoppage time as Christopher Nkunku calmly converted from the penalty spot after Kempf was penalised for pushing Rabiot.

Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan produced a series of strong saves to keep Como at bay after the break before Milan took the lead in the 55th minute when Rabiot knocked the ball in from close range.

Como were denied an equaliser as Nico Paz saw his effort from outside the box crash against the crossbar. Milan then sealed the win two minutes from time when Rabiot caught the Como defence off guard with a low strike from distance that crept into the bottom corner.

“This was a team victory, we showed our mentality,” Rabiot told DAZN after being named man-of-the-match.

“We suffered a lot in the first half, but we talked during the break, came out with a different mentality, we all came out fighting for the three points.

“We gave something extra and I am very happy to score two goals, obviously, but above all I’m pleased with the mentality of the team.”

While Rabiot provided the goals, another Frenchman, goalkeeper Maignan, made his mark with a string of crucial saves.

“We knew that playing here would be difficult, we were well-prepared. We started a little sluggish and they scored, but we managed to keep the game open, and then all together started to play as a team,” Maignan said.

“We know these are great nights for Milan with an atmosphere like this. We suffered, we used up a lot of energy and left it all on the field.”

Thursday’s win was huge for the title race, with the top three all having now played their games in hand accrued from taking part in the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

But Milan could have easily been three goals behind before Nkunku thumped home his spot-kick had it not been for goalkeeper Maignan, whose saves allowed the away side to pick Como’s pocket.

Moments before Rabiot won Milan’s penalty — helped by an acrobatic tumble — Maignan pulled off the best of his six saves, keeping out Lucas Da Cunha’s header from point-blank range and leaving the midfielder baffled as to how he didn’t score.

And Paz was exasperated when Maignan got his finger tips to the Argentina youngster’s powerful low drive, a save which preceded Rabiot’s first arrowed strike by moments.

Paz also clipped the crossbar on the hour mark as Como continued in vein to push for what would have been a deserved equaliser, but with the clock ticking down Rabiot ended the discussion by clouting a long-range effort past Como goalkeeper Jean Butez — another Frenchman.

Earlier, Bologna snapped a seven-match winless streak with an eventful 3-2 win at Verona who sink to the bottom of the table following an 11th defeat of the season.

Riccardo Orsolini, Jens Odgaard and Santiago Castro all scored fine goals as Bologna, who lost the Super Cup final to Napoli, moved up to eighth and four points behind Como who sit in the Conference League spot.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026