MILAN (AP) — Christian Pulisic was the hero for AC Milan on Saturday with his two goals helping the Rossoneri end a three-match losing streak in Serie A.
Pulisic first earned and converted a penalty to level the score at 2-2 after Lecce had been leading 2-0. The United States international — who is nicknamed “Captain America” — then scored the late winner in a 3-2 victory at Lecce.
The result saw Milan inch up to eighth in the Italian league. Lecce remained three points above the relegation zone.
League leader Inter Milan also surprisingly had to fight back from two goals down to win 3-2 at home to bottom club Monza. Inter moved four points ahead of second-placed Napoli, which hosts Fiorentina on Sunday.
Milan was in deep crisis as it had also been knocked out of the Champions League by Feyenoord before its miserable run in Serie A, losing to Torino, Bologna and Lazio.
Milan thought it had got off to the perfect start at Lecce as Santiago Giménez had the ball in the back of the net after just 47 seconds but it was ruled out for offside.
Instead it was Lecce that took the early lead, within seven minutes, with a stunning Nikola Krstovic curler from 20 yards.
It was Lecce’s first goal in 367 minutes, having failed to find the back of the net in its previous four matches.
Milan had more celebrations cut short in the 15th minute when Matteo Gabbia volleyed home Theo Hernández’s free kick but it was again ruled out for offside.
Both teams also hit the woodwork before Krstovic doubled his and Lecce’s tally in the 59th, sweeping a low cross into the bottom left corner.
However, Milan turned things round in the space of five minutes.
João Félix’s effort was probably going wide but went in off Lecce defender Antonino Gallo for an own-goal and then Pulisic leveled in the 73rd with a powerful spot kick down the middle after being tripped by Federico Baschirotto.
The turn-around was complete nine minutes from time. Rafael Leão floated in a free kick from the left for Pulisic to volley in at the back post.
Heartbreak for Monza
Monza had lost six of its last seven matches and hadn't scored a goal in nearly a month.
But Samuele Birindelli shocked Inter by firing Monza in front in the 32nd minute and San Siro was further stunned when Keita Balde Diao doubled Monza's lead on the stroke of halftime, with a magnificent curling shot into the top right corner — and on his 30th birthday.
However, Marko Arnautović reduced the deficit in first-half stoppage time with a header and Hakan Çalhanoğlu equalized in the 64th.
Monza thought Stefano Turati had made a fantastic save to keep out Lautaro Martinez's diving header and the goalkeeper was being congratulated by his teammates when goalline technology proved the ball had gone over. It went down as an own-goal from Giorgos Kyriakopoulos.
Monza remained 10 points from safety.
Fight against relegation
A last-gasp penalty saw Venezia snatch a third successive draw, holding Cesc Fabregas’ Como 1-1.
Venezia remained 19th in the 20-team league, five points from safety.
Parma inched two points above the relegation zone after two Mateo Pellegrino goals saw it twice fight back to draw 2-2 against Torino.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
