Milan took a stand against the racist abuse endured by their goalkeeper Mike Maignan but were left to rue two missed penalties as they were held to a 2-2 home draw by Bologna, who converted a late spot kick themselves in a rollercoaster Serie A match.
Last Saturday Milan’s players walked off the pitch at Udinese after Maignan was racially abused, an incident that has led to stadium bans for supporters involved and the home side being ordered to play a game behind closed doors. In solidarity with Maignan, the game against Bologna was paused after 16 minutes – representing his shirt number – while fans held up their phones with torches on and a quotation from Martin Luther King was displayed on the scoreboard. It read: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that.”
After play resumed, Bologna broke the deadlock with a goal from Joshua Zirkzee in the 29th minute. Olivier Giroud had the chance to level from the spot after Lewis Ferguson fouled Simon Kjær, the aftermath of the award leading to a red card for Thiago Motta, the Bologna coach. Giroud’s penalty was weak and easily saved by Lukasz Skorupski, but Ruben Loftus-Cheek did equalise just before the break.
In the 75th minute Theo Hernández took a Milan penalty after Sam Beukema’s foul on Rafael Leão, but the Frenchman struck a post. The former Chelsea midfielder Loftus-Cheek added his second goal seven minutes from time, but Filippo Terracciano tripped Victor Kristiansen in stoppage time and Riccardo Orsolini converted the penalty to secure a draw.
Milan are third in the table with 46 points, seven behind the leaders, Juventus, who squandered the chance to increase their lead over second-placed Internazionale when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by Empoli after playing most of the game with 10 men.
Juve started poorly and were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute when the striker Arkadiusz Milik was sent off for a foul on the Empoli forward Alberto Cerri, the referee overturning his initial decision to book the Pole following a VAR review.
Dusan Vlahovic put Juventus ahead in the 50th minute, scoring from close range following a corner, before the Empoli midfielder Tommaso Baldanzi levelled 20 minutes later with a low strike from distance. Inter, who have two games in hand, can regain top spot on Sunday when they visit fifth-placed Fiorentina.
Injury-hit Bayern Munich battled to a 3-2 victory at Augsburg in the Bavarian derby on Saturday to cut the gap on the Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen to two points. First-half goals from Aleksandar Pavlovic and Alphonso Davies, plus one from the league’s top scorer Harry Kane, took second-placed Bayern to 47 points.
Bayern, whose winger Kingsley Coman suffered a suspected knee ligament injury that could rule him out for some time, conceded two penalties late in the game, with Augsburg converting one of them in stoppage time. “It was an unusual lineup for us with all the injuries and absences,” said the Bayern coach, Thomas Tuchel. “We had a bit of luck at the start. We knew it was going to be tough against them. But then we got better and created lots of chances.”
Bayern took the lead when teenager Pavlovic turned in the box and drilled home his first league goal in the 23rd minute.
The Bavarians added a second goal deep in first-half stoppage time when Davies rifled in a low shot. Augsburg bounced back seven minutes after the restart as Ermedin Demirovic was left unmarked in the box and beat Manuel Neuer with a glancing header to cut the deficit.
Kane tapped in his 23rd league goal in the 58th minute following a lengthy VAR review to restore Bayern’s two-goal lead before Augsburg earned an 87th-minute penalty. Neuer picked the right corner and palmed Sven Michel’s spot kick wide but Demirovic beat him with another spot kick in stoppage time to inject late drama.
Bayer Leverkusen squandered a bagful of chances before settling for a 0-0 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The hosts had more than 70% of possession in the first half and two good early opportunities for Florian Wirtz but struggled to crack open the disciplined Gladbach defence.
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It was one-way traffic after the break with Xabi Alonso’s team squandering several chances. A stoppage-time Nathan Tella shot from two metres was far too weak and completed a disappointing evening for the hosts.
Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouaméni came off the bench and scored a late header to snatch a 2-1 comeback win at Las Palmas to take his side top of La Liga.
Madrid were short of ideas in a lacklustre first half as they struggled without their top scorer, Jude Bellingham, who was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card last weekend in their last-gasp win against Almería.
Madrid were shocked by the hosts in the 53rd minute when Javi Muñoz tapped in from close range after Sandro sent over a low cross. But they hit back in the 65th minute with a point-blank strike by Vinícius and, in the 84th, Tchouaméni, on as a substitute, grabbed the winner with a towering header from a Toni Kroos corner.
Barcelona slumped to a 5-3 home defeat to Villarreal, leading Xavi to announce after the game that he will step down as manager at the end of the season.
In Ligue 1, Nice earned a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Metz thanks to a second-half penalty from Evann Guessand. The second-placed hosts were awarded a spot kick after Fali Candé, the Metz defender, fouled Guessand in the 77th minute and the Nice striker kept his cool to find the bottom corner of the net.
Nice moved five points behind the league leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who play third-placed Brest on Sunday.
