Leao the provider leads Rossoneri to the summit - Lazio fall at the San Siro

AC Milan extended their unbeaten home Serie A head-to-head record to 12 games (nine wins, three draws), overcoming Lazio at the San Siro to take their place at the top of the Serie A table, at least temporarily.

Given Lazio’s pre-match record of just one Serie A draw this season (two wins, three losses) and the fact that none of the previous 11 head-to-head encounters had ended all square (Milan: seven wins, four losses), a winner was on the cards. Aside from a Felipe Anderson near-post strike, it was an evenly-matched opening to the contest until Rafael Leão began to impose himself on the game with direct runnings and guile, forcing Ivan Provedel into a near-post save. The hosts arguably ended the half on top with birthday boy Olivier Giroud’s initial shot spilled into Tijjani Reijnders’s path before the Dutchman clipped the post with his follow-up.

The champions got their chemistry back - Lecce feel the wrath of the Neapolitans

Chances were still proving elusive after the break, but with 60 minutes on the clock the hosts made the breakthrough. Always involved for Milan, Leão pulled the ball back towards the penalty spot where an unmarked Christian Pulisic arrived to coolly slot in his third Serie A goal. On for the injured Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Yunus Musah then came close to adding a second for his side as Lazio remained on the back foot. Neither Milan nor Lazio had scored a goal after the 75th minute in Serie A this campaign, a statistic which did not bode well for the visitors with 15 minutes left to play.

In truth, Milan looked like the only side likely to score again, and with time almost up, they did just that to kill off the game. Leão once again was pivotal as he raced down the left before pulling back to substitute Noah Okafor, who converted his second goal of the week with ease. Pedro came off the bench to net a spectacular reply, only to be denied by an offside in the build-up, making it three straight wins in the league for Milan since their derby day disappointment. Meanwhile, Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio remain stranded in mid-table unable to put a consistent run of positive results together after a dreadful start to their Serie A campaign.

SERIE A - MATCHDAY 7

Saturday

Lecce - Napoli 0-4 (0-1)

/Ostigard 16, Osimhen 51, Gaetano 88, Politano 90+4 pen/

AC Milan - Lazio 2-0 (0-0)

/Pulisic 60, Okafor 88/

21:45: (7.50) Salernitana (4.50) Inter (1.43)

Sunday

13:30: (1.67) Bologna (3.70) Empoli (5.50)

16:00: (2.45) Udinese (3.25) Genoa (3.25)

19:00: (2.55) Atalanta (3.45) Juventus (2.90)

21:45: (1.45) Roma (4.30) Frosinone (7.75)

Monday

19:30: (2.20) Sassuolo (3.50) Monza (3.20)

19:30: (1.90) Torino (3.40) Verona (4.30)

21:45: (1.47) Fiorentina (4.20) Cagliari (7.50)

***odds are subject to change***