Serie A | AC Milan 2-1 Fiorentina: Rafael Leao and VAR send Rossoneri top

Rafael Leao bagged a brace to turn Fiorentina around after the Robin Gosens opener, including a controversial penalty, sending Milan top of the Serie A table.

The Rossoneri were dealing with a huge injury crisis, missing Adrien Rabiot, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christopher Nkunku, Pervis Estupinan and Ardon Jashari. It meant Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers were rushed back from muscular issues to start, with Zachary Athekame and Samuele Ricci stepping in. The Viola had a disastrous start to the season, putting ex-Milan coach Stefano Pioli under pressure already. Tariq Lamptey, Amir Richardson and Christian Kouame missed out, though Moise Kean shook off an ankle knock.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Fikayo Tomori and then Strahinja Pavlovic ballooned over after free kicks bobbled into their path, while Rafael Leao couldn’t get his head to an Athekame cross at the back post.

Mike Maignan had to show off some fancy footwork to dribble away from the Kean high press, while Hans Nicolussi Caviglia blasted wide from distance on 52 minutes.

Fiorentina took the lead with their first real threat of the game, as a corner was not cleared, so Maignan flapped the Luca Ranieri header onto the stomach of Matteo Gabbia, with Robin Gosens making sure it crossed the line completely from a yard.

Robin Gosens couldn’t miss as Fiorentina take the lead against AC Milan

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Milan replied with a moment of magic from Rafael Leao, who cut inside Rolando Mandragora and bent the right-foot finish into the far bottom corner from a good 23 metres out, surprising David De Gea. Fiorentina were down to 10 at that moment, with Ranieri receiving treatment for a nosebleed.

Rafael Leão at his very best

The forward strikes from distance to level the game against Fiorentina

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Youssouf Fofana’s header was straight at De Gea, while Dodo blasted over the bar, but De Gea flew for a sensational reaction save, fingertipping the Santiago Gimenez volley over the bar from Davide Bartesaghi’s cross.

There was controversy late on when Gimenez went down clutching his face, but the referee opted for a penalty following the VAR On-Field Review for Fabiano Parisi lightly clutching the Mexican international’s shoulder. Rafael Leao took the responsibility and drilled it low into the near bottom corner to beat De Gea, converting his first ever Serie A penalty. It was the Portuguese talent’s first brace since November 2024.

It just had to be Rafael Leão again

A cool and composed finish from the spot to give AC Milan the lead

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Milan 2-1 Fiorentina

Gosens 56 (F), Leao 63, pen 87 (M)