AC Milan Provides Drama at the San Siro with 2 Late Goals in 3-2 Comeback Win over Parma

Milan's head coach Sergio Conceicao celebrates winning the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Parma Calcio, in Milan, Italy, 26 January 2025. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
Milan's head coach Sergio Conceicao celebrates winning the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Parma Calcio, in Milan, Italy, 26 January 2025. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
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AC Milan Provides Drama at the San Siro with 2 Late Goals in 3-2 Comeback Win over Parma

Milan's head coach Sergio Conceicao celebrates winning the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Parma Calcio, in Milan, Italy, 26 January 2025. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI
Milan's head coach Sergio Conceicao celebrates winning the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Parma Calcio, in Milan, Italy, 26 January 2025. EPA/MATTEO BAZZI

New AC Milan coach Sergio Conceição dropped down to his knees on the San Siro sideline, unleashed a loud scream and then wrapped his arms around an assistant in an emotional embrace when Samuel Chukwueze bundled in the winner five minutes into stoppage time.
Conceição has struggled at times to transmit his desire and grit to a team that has been inconsistent in Serie A.
He was clearly moved by Milan’s ability to stay focused this time, though, as the Rossoneri scored two late goals to secure a 3-2 victory against promoted Parma on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.
Conceição’s grit was also evident after the final whistle when he had to be restrained during a heated exchange with Milan captain Davide Calabria.
“It’s like with your kids when you go to a restaurant and they misbehave and you yell at them. That’s how I am,” Conceição said. “Maybe we said a bit too much. But we’re creating a strong bond with the players.”
Conceição also guided Milan to comeback wins over Juventus and Inter Milan en route to the Italian Super Cup trophy to start the month. And a midweek win over Girona left Milan in the top eight of the Champions League standings.
“Really we need to show some of this hunger earlier in the game because it seems like we always have this energy at the end, and we’re turning the games around," said United States international Christian Pulisic, who converted a first-half penalty. "But I think we can also make things easier for ourselves.”
Milan also beat Inter in a Serie A derby in September and won 3-1 at Real Madrid in November. But in between the successes have been a series of forgettable performances in the Italian league.
Like a 1-1 draw at home with Cagliari two weeks ago, and a 2-0 loss at Juventus last weekend.
But after beating Parma, seventh-placed Milan moved back into contention for the Champions League places.
Parma remained just above the drop zone.
Chukwueze’s winner came as Milan poured forward desperately in the final moments and Strahinja Pavlovic knocked down a ball for him to push in from close range.
Three minutes earlier, Tijjani Reijnders had equalized for Milan after beating the offside trap.
It was a tough start for Milan, though, as Matteo Cancellieri put Parma ahead midway through the first half — bringing back memories of Cancellieri’s winner in a 2-1 victory for Parma against Milan in August.
Pulisic equalized before the break and then Enrico Delprato restored Parma’s advantage in the 80th by knocking in a rebound.
Up next for Conceição and Milan? The third derby this season with Inter next Sunday. First, though, there’s a visit to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Inter Milan overwhelmed relegation-threatened Lecce 4-0 with goals from Davide Frattesi, Lautaro Martinez, Denzel Dumfries and Mehdi Taremi.
Inter moved back within three points of Serie A leader Napoli, which beat Juventus 2-1 on Saturday. The Nerazzurri also still have a game in hand.
Also, Roma won 2-1 at Udinese for its first away victory of the season. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Artem Dovbyk converted second-half penalties for Roma after Lorenzo Lucca had put Udinese ahead in the first half.
In the late game, Fiorentina won 2-1 at Lazio with first-half goals from Yacine Adli and Lucas Beltran. Lazio's Pedro hit the post with the last kick of the match.



Lyon's Attack Looks Sharp Under New Coach Fonseca

Lyon's Georgian forward #69 Georges Mikautadze celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on February 16, 2025. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
Lyon's Georgian forward #69 Georges Mikautadze celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on February 16, 2025. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
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Lyon's Attack Looks Sharp Under New Coach Fonseca

Lyon's Georgian forward #69 Georges Mikautadze celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on February 16, 2025. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)
Lyon's Georgian forward #69 Georges Mikautadze celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Montpellier Herault SC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) at Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, southern France on February 16, 2025. (Photo by Sylvain THOMAS / AFP)

After 10 goals in three games, new coach Paulo Fonseca's pledge to bring attacking soccer back to Lyon is holding firm.
Sunday's 4-1 win at Montpellier in Ligue 1 saw four different Lyon players on target for the second straight game, The Associated Press reported.
After being involved in all four Lyon goals against Reims last weekend, Rayan Cherki took only three minutes to set up Georgia's Georges Mikautadze for the opener.
Forward Tanguy Coulibaly equalized for last-placed Montpellier shortly before halftime, but Lyon pulled away early in the second half. Ernest Nuamah scored and three minutes later set up rejuvenated midfielder Corentin Tolisso, who has netted in every game under Fonseca.
Under previous coach Pierre Sage, the team was looking laborious and had scored only five goals in six games without a win before he was fired.
Veteran striker Alexandre Lacazette completed the rout in the 73rd minute for Lyon, which stayed in sixth place because Lille won 2-0 at Rennes in Sunday's late game to retain fifth spot.
The race for third place promises to be intense, with Nice reclaiming it from Riviera rival Monaco on goal difference after winning 3-1 at lowly Le Havre.
Both Nice and Monaco have 40 points and trail second-place Marseille by six points.
Striker Gaëtan Laborde sent Nice ahead in the 16th minute and an own-goal from Étienne Youté two minutes later put Nice in control. Yassine Kechta pulled a goal back soon after but Sofiane Diop made it 3-1 in stoppage time.
Coach Liam Rosenior's Strasbourg won 2-0 at Lens to leapfrog the northern side — also on goal difference — and move into seventh place, with Dutch striker Emanuel Emegha grabbing his 10th goal of the season.
Algerian winger Farid El Melali scored the only goal as Angers won 1-0 at Reims. The two sides meet again in the French Cup quarterfinals on Feb. 25.
Bentaleb's poignant goal After poking in Lille's opening goal from close range following a corner, Nabil Bentaleb sprinted to the bench and was hugged by everyone there.
With good reason.
The Algeria midfielder only started training again last month after suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest in mid-June last year. He was put into an artificial coma and fitted with a pacemaker-defibrillator days later.
Lille's top scorer Jonathan David was rested for this game and his replacement penalty-taker missed from the spot. Chuba Akpom's effort in the 44th was saved by goalkeeper Brice Samba.
The English striker then had a goal disallowed midway through the second half for an offside. But Akpom's perseverance led to a red card for defender Christopher Wooh, who fouled him in the 75th, and the sending off opened up the game for the visitors.
The former Tottenham and Schalke midfielder Bentaleb scored five minutes later — prompting a big smile from Lille coach Bruno Genesio — and Akpom was played in by Mitchel Bakker six minutes later against 13th-placed Rennes.
After the final whistle, Lille's players urged Bentaleb to go toward the traveling supporters, who applauded him.
“It’s incredible. These images will remain engraved for life,” Bentaleb told match broadcaster DAZN. “There are things that are not forgotten and that I will not forget when I stop playing football.”
Runaway leader PSG scraped a 1-0 win at Toulouse on Saturday to stay 10 points clear of free-scoring Marseille in second position.