Serie A: Leaders AC Milan held by rock-bottom Salernitana, Mourinho's Roma rescued by teens
Feb 20, 2022
Milan [Italy], February 20 : Goals from Junior Messias and Ante Rebic weren't enough for the Serie A leaders AC Milan to get the better of rock-bottom Salernitana on Saturday.
It ended 2-2 at the Arechi. AC Milan were rather caught off guard by Salernitana's aggressive approach and couldn't manage more than a draw after having taken the lead - though they did trail during the 90 minutes.
Messias opened the scoring in the fifth minute before the hosts turned it around with goals from Bonazzoli (29') and Djuric (72'), only for Rebic to get the Rossoneri back on levels terms in the 77th minute.
AC Milan weren't at their best and struggled to match Granata's intensity over the course of the game. After two league wins on the bounce plus one in the Coppa Italia, the Rossoneri thus dropped points for the first time in February.
At the Stadio Olimpico, it took two unlikely saviours to rescue Roma, as the Giallorossi drew 2-2 with Hellas Verona.
Substitutes and teenagers Cristian Volpato and Edoardo Bove both got on the scoresheet - their first senior goals for the club - to bring Jose Mourinho's side back from the brink in the second half, turning the game around and giving the hosts the chance of even winning the game in the closing stages.
That would not quite happen, with Mourinho sent off in the closing stages as he appeared to question the amount of additional time added on by the referee.
The Giallorossi - denied the availability of nine first-team players due to COVID, suspension or injury - went into the break 2-0 after a squalid first-half performance, as Antonin Barak and Adrian Tameze took advantage for Verona.
Elsewhere, Sampdoria defeated Empoli 2-0. There's no doubting a player like Fabio Quagliarella, even if he goes 139 days without scoring. Marco Giampaolo said as much before the match against Empoli, and the skipper proved the coach right as he struck a 15-minute brace to clinch a 2-0 victory for Sampdoria.
They weren't just two ordinary goals either: the double takes the veteran striker's tally to 100 for Samp in Serie A.
