Struggling AC Milan recovered from conceding two early goals to snatch a dramatic 2-2 draw against visiting Fiorentina in Serie A on Saturday.
The hosts’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League continue to fade, and they were two goals down in the opening 10 minutes of this contest.
Things started off poorly for Milan when Malick Thiaw gave Fiorentina the lead with an own goal. Away forward Albert Gudmundsson dribbled past their defence to strike from a tight angle and Thiaw bundled the ball inside his own empty net.
Moise Kean doubled the visitors’ advantage three minutes later, firing a first-time shot from close range to convert a delightful Dodo pass from the right.
The Italy forward took his goal tally to 17 for the season, sitting only behind Atalanta’s Mateo Retegui (22) among the Italian top-flight leading scorers.
Milan got back into it through a Tammy Abraham strike in the 23rd minute. The English striker played a one-two with Christian Pulisic on the edge of the box before beating David de Gea with a low effort.
Abraham could have levelled two minutes later but was blocked by the Fiorentina defence.
Fiorentina thought they had their two-goal lead restored just before the break through a terrific long-range shot by Luca Ranieri, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Pulisic in the build-up.
An improved Milan returned for the second half and Fiorentina keeper De Gea showed some skills when he denied Tijjani Reijnders and a point-blank range follow-up by the lively Pulisic.
But the Spaniard was unable to deny first-half substitute Luka Jovic after 64 minutes when the former Fiorentina striker latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Fikayo Tomori to score in his second game in a row with a low effort from around the penalty spot.
Dodo then thought he gave Fiorentina a last-gasp win with a volley from a stunning long cross by Nicolo Fagioli, but his goal was chalked off for offside.
Having also conceded twice early on when they lost 2-1 at title-chasing Napoli last weekend, Milan have now won only two of their last seven league games, further denting their chances of securing a top-four finish.
They are ninth in the table on 48 points, four points behind eighth-placed Fiorentina and eight off fourth-placed Bologna, who host Napoli on Monday.
The last time Milan finished outside of the Serie A top four was in 2019-20.
Data Debrief: Milan show fighting spirit
Milan battled back to claim a point on this one, and they are now one of two teams – level with Bologna – who have gained the most points from losing positions in Serie A this season (16).
This was the first time Fiorentina have drawn a Serie A match after going ahead by two goals since August 2023 when they also drew 2-2 against Lecce.
It meant former Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea could not celebrate playing his 500th game in the top five European leagues with a victory.
It was the 200th such appearance in a top-five league for in-form Kean, and he has now netted against Milan for three different Serie A teams, making the Rossoneri the first club he has achieved that impressive feat against.
