Christian Pulisic kept his scoring streak alive for another game to help AC Milan push to victory over Lecce, while Gianluca Busio helped Venezia take an early lead against Roma, only for the team to come away empty-handed.
AC Milan 3 – 0 Lecce
Like a broken record, the phrase “Christian Pulisic scores” was once again heard on Friday night, as the American netted AC Milan’s third goal on their way to a relatively routine shut-out victory over Lecce.
Apart from an early flourish for the visitors and late, and largely inconsequential sending-off for Milan, the game was a walk in the park where the ending outcome had a feeling of inevitability. USMNT midfielder Yunus Musah also saw action, coming in for the final 27 minutes of regulation with Milan already safely ahead.
The Rossoneri scored their trio of goals in a five-minute burst, the first coming in the 38th when a free kick by Theo Hernández just outside the left edge of the area was headed in by Álvaro Morata toward the back post.
Three minutes later, Hernández was the beneficiary of a fine through-ball from Rafael Leao to spring him on the left side, with his high, tightly-angled shot beating Lecce keeper Wladimiro Falcone for the 2-0 advantage.
Pulisic then completed the scoring two minutes before the 45 minute mark, putting away an initially blocked screamer from Tammy Abraham.
This was the fourth straight game across all competitions for Milan in which the American has scored a goal, and his sixth consecutive with a goal or assist.
Milan are in third place following the victory, riding a four-game undefeated streak in all competitions into their visit to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday. In league action, they will visit Fiorentina on Sunday before heading into the international break.
Genoa 0 – 3 Juventus
Weston McKennie kept his spot in the Juventus starting XI on Saturday evening, playing a solid 62 minutes on the way to a convincing 3-0 victory over Genoa.
Over his hour of play, the Texan completed 94% of his 34 passing attempts, successfully completed his only dribble, won four out of six duels, made a pair of recoveries and drew one foul while committing two.
Tim Weah is still out injured and did not suit up.
Dusan Vlavohic put Juve ahead three minutes after the teams returned from the halftime break, hitting from the spot after the ball grazed Koni de Winter’s hand in the area.
The Serb netted his second in the 55th minute, with new acquisition Teun Koopmeiners hitting him with deep pass to the left side area for a low shot to the far post.
Substitute Chico Conceicao then completed the 3-0 win in the final moments of regulation, looping a 12-yard shot from the right side of the area to the left side of Genoa keeper Pierluigi Gollini.
Still yet to concede a goal through their first six games, Juve are in second place following the weekend’s action. They visit Leipzig in Champions League action on Wednesday, before hosting Cagliari on Sunday in their final Serie A game before the break.
Roma 2 – 1 Venezia
Gianluca Busio helped to trigger a first-half go-ahead goal for Venezia on their visit to Roma on Sunday, but ultimately the better team prevailed and the Giallorossi took all three points with a second-half surge.
Much like the rest of the Venezia lineup, which only maintained a 31% possession stat, Busio was limited on the ball, with only 34 touches from start to finish, although he did create a pair of chances and take three shots, one of which inadvertently set up Venezia’s go-ahead goal in the 44th minute.
The American’s looping shot from 12 yards clanged off the right upright, and in the ensuing scramble, Finnish star Joel Pohjanpalo put away the loose ball with a low finish to the left side.
Roma needed until the final 16 minutes of the game to equalize, when Bryan Cristante lobbed a looping, 30-yard shot over Jesse Joronen’s head and into goal. Niccolo Pisilli then made his first goal of the season a meaningful one, earning the three points for Roma in the 83rd minute by heading in a corner from Leandro Paredes.
Venezia sit within the relegation places following the loss, with just four points from six games. They will be hopeful of showing some signs of life on Friday night when they visit 14th-place Hellas Verona, in their last game before the international break.
Notes
Andrija Novakovich played the final moments of Bari’s disappointing 1-1 home draw against Cosenza, with the team blowing a lead by conceding a late penalty to their visitors.
After earning a shut-out in midweek Coppa Italia action, Jonathan Klinsmann returned to Cesena’s bench on Sunday for their 4-2 home win over Mantova.
Kristoffer Lund started at left back for Palermo on Monday when they beat Südtirol by a 3-1 margin.
