MILAN, Italy —
Dusan Vlahovic was again on target for
Fiorentina on Sunday but couldn't help them put pressure on Serie A's Champions
League positions following an entertaining 2-2 draw with Sassuolo, as
injury-hit AC Milan and Napoli prepare for a title clash.
اضافة اعلان
Serbia forward Vlahovic struck his
league-leading 16th goal of the season in the 51st minute in Florence to pull a
goal back after the Viola trailed by two at half-time through strikes from
Gianluca Scamacca and
Davide Frattesi.
Vlahovic, who will turn 22 next month, has
now scored 33 Serie A goals in 2021 — matching Cristiano Ronaldo's total last
year — and is expected to be a target for some of Europe's biggest clubs in the
January transfer window.
He has refused to sign an extension to his
current contract which expires in the summer of 2023, meaning Fiorentina could
move to cash in early in order to get maximum value from their star player.
Lucas Torreira levelled just after the hour
mark but Vincenzo Italiano's side then lost Cristiano Biraghi to a second
yellow card in the 68th minute and couldn't complete a comeback which would
have put them within three points of the top four.
"Without the Biraghi red card, I think
we would've could have gone on to win," said Italiano to Sky Sport
Italia.
"People have rediscovered their
enthusiasm and we need to keep fuelling it."
San Siro title tussle
Fiorentina sit sixth, level on 31 points
with
Roma and
Juventus and five away from Napoli, who are fourth ahead of
Sunday's late match at Milan.
Both teams go into that title clash, the
last big match of 2021 in Italy, severely depleted by injuries after a grueling
opening half of the season which has seen four teams make their case for the
Scudetto.
Napoli are going through a difficult run of
form and are without star striker Victor Osimhen, defensive lynchpin
Kalidou Koulibaly, Italy forward Lorenzo Insigne, Mario Rui and Fabian Ruiz for the
trip north.
Stefano Pioli's Milan meanwhile are missing
Rafael Leao,
Ante Rebic, Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez, not to mention
starting center-back Simon Kjaer who is out for the season.
The match comes at a delicate time in the
season for each as they both risk losing ground on league leaders
Inter Milan,
who are four points ahead of their city rivals and seven in front of
Napoli.
Inter have started to motor over the last
two months, claiming top spot for the first time this season last weekend and
consolidating their bid to retain the title with a 5-0 hammering of Salernitana on Friday.
Simone Inzaghi's team are unbeaten in 10
league matches and have won their last six while racking up 19 goals and
conceding just two.
In Sunday's afternoon match Spezia and
Empoli played out a 1-1 draw, while Verona's Giovanni Simeone tries to keep up
with Vlahovic in the scoring charts at Torino and Sampdoria host Venezia before
the headline clash at the San Siro.
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