Serie A wrap: Ibra´s late show, Lazio beaten

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late strike secured Serie A leaders AC Milan a thrilling 4-4 draw with Udinese at the San Siro on Sunday.

In a pulsating encounter, Antonio Di Natale gave the visitors the lead after 35 minutes when he fired a low shot past Marco Amelia in the Milan goal, only for Brazilian striker Pato to level proceedings on the stroke of half-time.

Alexis Sanchez restored Udinese’s advantage eight minutes after the break and Di Natale scored his second on 66 minutes to give Udinese a 3-1 advantage.

But an own-goal from Medhi Benatia with 12 minutes remaining was quickly followed by another strike from Pato to level the scores. An 89th-minute strike from German Denis looked to have secured a win for Udinese, but Milan again had other ideas.

Enter Ibrahimovic, who latched on to a through ball from new signing Antonio Cassano to fire a left-foot shot past Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and ensure a share of the spoils.

Elsewhere on Sunday, second-placed Lazio could not capitalise on Milan’s slip-up when they were beaten 2-1 at home by lowly Lecce.

An own-goal from Fernando Muslera handed Lecce the lead on 39 minutes, though Stefano Mauri equalised two minutes after half-time.

Carlos Grossmuller sealed the win with 18 minutes to play, although the three points were not enough to pull Lecce out of the relegation zone and they remain in 18th position.

Similarly, fourth-placed Roma could not close the gap on Milan when they went down 2-1 to Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Roma took an early lead through striker Mirko Vucinic, but were pegged back by a penalty from Nicola Pozzi before Stefano Guberti scored the winner seven minutes from the end of a spiteful match that had three players sent off.

Sampdoria duo Stefano Lucchini and Daniele Gastaldello and Roma goalkeeper Julio Sergio were all given their marching orders by referee Gianluca Rocchi.

Inter Milan’s renaissance under new coach Leonardo continued when they scored a 2-1 win over Catania away from home.

Alejandro Gomez gave Catania the lead after 71 minutes, but a brace from midfielder Esteban Cambiasso helped secure all three points for the champions and made it two wins from two for their new boss.

Bologna climbed to 10th spot in the table with a 2-0 win over Bari, while Fiorentina enjoyed a 3-2 win over Brescia.

Brescia led 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Alessandro Diamanti and Nicolas Cordova, but Fiorentina hit back in the final 18 minutes of play with goals to Alberto Gilardino, Mario Santana and Adem Ljajic sealing a valuable three points.

Cagliari claimed a 2-1 away win over Parma, while Genoa’s trip to Cesena and Palermo’s visit to Chievo Verona both resulted in goalless draws.