Dusan Vlahovic struck twice for Fiorentina as they inflicted Milan’s first Serie A defeat of the season with a thrilling 4-3 win.
Alfred Duncan punished a mistake from Milan keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu to put La Viola ahead, and Riccardo Saponara’s curled finish gave the hosts a two-goal half-time lead. The game looked over as a contest when highly-rated Serbian striker Vlahovic made it 3-0 on the hour mark after rounding Tatarusanu.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had other ideas, scoring twice in quick succession. The 40-year-old became the oldest player to score multiple goals in an Italian top-flight match. It proved to be in vain, however, as Vlahovic scored his second late on before Ibrahimovic hit the bar, with the ball rebounding in off Fiorentina’s Lorenzo Venuti.
“We must feel the pain of this defeat, but I remain convinced that I have a very strong team,” the Milan coach, Stefano Pioli, told Sky Italia. “Losing always hurts, as does conceding four goals. Maybe we could have come back without the fourth goal.”
“This victory means a lot for our self-esteem, we have never won a big game until now. We made some mistakes, but we did well to see it out,” the Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi told Dazn after his side climbed to sixth. Milan might hope for a draw on Sunday when rivals Inter, seven points behind, take on leaders Napoli.
Earlier, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci scored a penalty in each half to earn his side a 2-0 win over Lazio on Saturday that lifted the Turin club into seventh place in Serie A and ended their opponents’ 19-match unbeaten home run.
The Italy international converted from the spot midway through the first half after the referee judged that Danilo Cataldi had tripped Álvaro Morata following a pitchside VAR review. The Lazio goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, then clumsily brought down Federico Chiesa with seven minutes remaining to hand Bonucci a second penalty kick.
Atalanta moved up to fourth with a 5-2 victory over Spezia. M’Bala Nzola gave the visitors the lead in Bergamo but two goals from Mario Pasalic plus efforts from Duván Zapata, Luis Muriel and Ruslan Malinovskyi gave the home side a comfortable cushion before Nzola struck again.
Lionel Messi scored his first Ligue 1 goal as Paris Saint-Germain opened a 12-point lead in the French top flight. Mauricio Pochettino’s side beat Nantes 3-1 at home despite playing almost half an hour with 10 men.
Messi found the net with a curled left-footed effort from outside the box three minutes from time, adding to Dennis Appiah’s own goal after Randal Kolo Muani had cancelled out Kylian Mbappé’s second-minute opener. PSG keeper Keylor Navas was sent off for bringing down Ludovic Blas, with Neymar making way for Sergio Rico.
“I’m happy with this first goal, I really wanted it. I had several chances before in this match and in the previous matches,” said Messi. “I am very happy with this first goal in the league, I had already scored in the Champions League. I had chances but I didn’t convert them. I am very happy.”
Rennes climb to second in the table after a 2-0 home win over Montpellier. Martin Terrier and Lovro Majer struck in the first half for the hosts, while Montpellier saw Téji Savanier sent off just before the interval.
In Germany, Marco Reus tapped in an 85th-minute winner to give Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 home victory over Stuttgart on Saturday and close to within a point of the leaders, Bayern Munich, who lost at Augsburg on Friday.
Dutch forward Donyell Malen scored his first Bundesliga goal in the 56th minute but Stuttgart levelled seven minutes later through Roberto Massimo. Reus, the captain, snatched the winner after the Stuttgart keeper, Florian Müller, had parried Thorgan Hazard’s shot.
Bayer Leverkusen edged to a 1-0 home win over Bochum to go fourth, a point above Union Berlin, who beat Hertha 2-0 in the capital’s derby game. Taiwo Awoniyi and Christopher Trimmel got the goals for the hosts inside the first half-hour. Wolfsburg fought back from 2-0 down to earn a point at struggling Arminia Bielefeld, but slip to sixth.
RB Leipzig continued their indifferent start to the season as they were beaten 2-0 at Hoffenheim, while Jonas Hoffman scored twice for Borussia Mönchengladbach as they thrashed bottom club Greuther Fürth, who have taken just one point from their first 12 matches.
In Spain, Atlético Madrid’s Brazilian defender Felipe headed a late goal to claim a 1-0 home win against Osasuna. The visiting five-man defence held out until the 87th minute when Yannick Carrasco delivered a perfect cross from the left and Felipe jumped between two defenders to head into the net.
“It’s an unforgettable night. It was a long time since I scored and it is very special for me,” Felipe told reporters after his winner moved the defending champions to within two points of La Liga’s summit. “We worked really hard not to suffer because suffering is part of Atlético’s history.”
Sevilla edged to the top of the table as Ivan Rakitic struck in stoppage time to rescue a point at home to Alavés, who led twice before settling for a 2-2 draw. In Galicia, Brais Méndez cancelled out Alberto Moreno’s opener as Celta and Villarreal drew 1-1.
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