Serie A: AC Milan held by Sassuolo in thriller as Inter close in on title

AC Milan was held to a spectacular 3-3 draw at struggling Sassuolo on Sunday to leave Inter Milan within touching distance of the Serie A title ahead of its late fixture with Cagliari.

Noah Okafor salvaged a hard-fought point for Milan in the 84th minute on a hot spring day in Reggio Emilia, but second-placed Milan still risk conceding the Scudetto to Inter in a hotly-anticipated derby despite coming back from two goals down.

Milan, who also netted through a sublime individual goal from Rafael Leao and Luka Jovic’s close-range finish, is 13 points behind its local rival with six fixtures left in its season.

Should Inter beat Cagliari at the San Siro as expected, the champion-elect would need only a point against Milan on Monday week in order to secure its 20th league crown.

ALSO READ | Bayer Leverkusen on cusp of winning Bundesliga: Top talking points about Xabi Alonso’s side this season

That would be a bitter pill to swallow for Milan, who has never been in the title race this season as Inter has charged off into the distance since the turn of the year.

Coach Stefano Pioli made a raft of changes in the wake of a first-leg defeat to Roma in the Europa League quarter-finals and was two goals behind with less than 10 minutes on the clock following early strikes from Andrea Pinamonti and Armand Lauriente.

Frenchman Lauriente’s second seven minutes after the break, which re-established Sassuolo’s two-goal lead, enabled second-from-bottom Sassuolo to move to within one point of safety.

Now Milan’s return leg in Rome on Thursday takes on even more significance as failing to overturn a single-goal deficit in that tie would be a huge blow ahead of the Milan derby.