Verona Wins 3-2 at 10-man Bologna in Serie A Thanks to Late Own-goal

Verona players celebrate the 3-2 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Bologna FC vs Hellas Verona FC at Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna, Italy, 30 December 2024. EPA/SERENA CAMPANINI
Verona players celebrate the 3-2 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Bologna FC vs Hellas Verona FC at Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna, Italy, 30 December 2024. EPA/SERENA CAMPANINI
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Verona Wins 3-2 at 10-man Bologna in Serie A Thanks to Late Own-goal

Verona players celebrate the 3-2 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Bologna FC vs Hellas Verona FC at Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna, Italy, 30 December 2024. EPA/SERENA CAMPANINI
Verona players celebrate the 3-2 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Bologna FC vs Hellas Verona FC at Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna, Italy, 30 December 2024. EPA/SERENA CAMPANINI

Benjamín Domínguez scored a brace for Bologna but a red card for Tommaso Pobega and a late own-goal by Santiago Castro sent the host team crashing to a 3-2 defeat against Verona in Serie A on Monday.
Domínguez scored in the 20th and 58th minutes, either side of a Verona double from Amir Sarr and Casper Tengstedt, The Associated Press reported.
But Pobega's red card, shown for striking an opponent in an off-the-ball incident early in the second half, hampered the home side and with three minutes left on the clock, a free kick from Ondrej Duda hit Castro to wrong-foot his own goalkeeper and give Verona all three points.
The result was a blow to Bologna’s hopes of securing a European place and leaves it in seventh place, four points behind Juventus.
Verona moved four points clear of the relegation zone.
Como beats Lecce 2-0 Nico Paz missed a first-half penalty earlier Monday but made amends in the second period with the goal that sent Como on its way to a 2-0 win over Lecce in Serie A.
The 20-year-old Argentine international saw his weak spot kick saved by the legs of Wladimiro Falcone after half an hour but he was on target in the 50th minute when he side-footed home from just outside the box.
Patrick Cutrone, who hit the bar early in the game, got a second goal with 10 minutes remaining when he seized on a rebound in the box and slotted home.
It was Como’s first league win over Lecce since 1994 and lifts it into 15th place, two points and one spot above its opponent.



Milan Come from Behind to Beat Juventus 2-1 in Super Cup Semi-final

Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
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Milan Come from Behind to Beat Juventus 2-1 in Super Cup Semi-final

Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Soccer Football - Italian Super Cup - Semi Final - Juventus v AC Milan - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2025 AC Milan's Christian Pulisic scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

AC Milan reached the Italian Super Cup final after coming from behind to beat Juventus 2-1 on Friday in Sergio Conceicao's first game in charge, setting up a derby decider with Inter Milan.

A second-half penalty from Christian Pulisic and an own goal by Federico Gatti completed Milan's comeback after Kenan Yildiz had fired Juve into a 21st-minute lead.

Milan will play Inter in Monday's final, after the Serie A champions overcame Atalanta 2-0 in their semi-final meeting on Thursday, where Conceicao could immediately get his hands on a trophy after replacing the sacked Paulo Fonseca as Milan manager on Monday.

The expected intrigue of a father against son battle failed to materialise, after Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao was named in the starting 11 but was withdrawn after picking up an injury in the warm-up, according to Reuters.

Conceicao's place was taken by Yildiz, and after a slow, cagey start to the game, it was the Turkish forward who broke the deadlock.

A through pass from Samuel Mbangula caught the Milan defence off guard and found Yildiz who took the ball into the area before smashing his shot into the roof of the net, beating Milan keeper Mike Maignan at his near post.

The second half began with another Yildiz effort going just wide in the opening seconds, and shortly afterwards, he played a low pass across the area but Dusan Vlahovic sent his effort wide.

Milan had a massive chance to equalise from a corner kick when the ball fell to Theo Hernandez, but he somehow managed to send a shot over the bar from close range.

The game at last opened up and Nicolo Savona's foul on Hernandez gave Milan a penalty kick in the 71st minute which Pulisic sent straight down the middle to beat Michele Di Gregorio.

Milan went ahead four minutes later, through an own goal. Yunus Musah's cross took a wicked deflection off Juve defender Gatti which took the ball past Di Gregorio who had come off his line.

"For our second-half performance, we deserved the final. In the first half I saw a Milan with many doubts, like a few weeks ago," Conceicao told SportMediaset.

"Then we spoke at halftime. We had to understand what we had to do to win and they were really brave."

Deep into added time, Juventus had one last chance to send the game to penalties, but Gatti's volleyed effort from close range went just wide.

The Milan manager embraced his son after the game before celebrating with his players, and Conceicao will now aim to stop Inter from winning their fourth consecutive Super Cup trophy.

"The second half was completely different, but we haven't done anything yet," Conceicao said.

"We have one less day of rest and this is an important factor."