Milan slew Hellas Verona and emerged from the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi with all three points after a Tonali-led comeback inspired the Rossoneri to the win.
The Italy international thought he’d got proceedings underway in the 16th minute.
But a disallowed goal for offside saw the score remain 0-0.
Faraoni’s far-post header would break the deadlock and put the visitors behind.
But it took Tonali just 10 minutes to get his side back level with a close-range finish.
Not to be denied, the midfielder would complete the comeback himself with a second strike 240 seconds after the restart – again from a Leao assist – which would give Pioli’s side an unassailable lead.
A late Florenzi third would put the score beyond reach and restore Milan’s two-point lead at the top.
Starting lineup:
HELLAS VERONA XI (3-4-2-1): Lorenzo Montipo; Nicolo Casale, Koray Gunter, Federico Ceccherini; Marco Davide Faraoni, Adrien Tameze, Ivan Ilic, Darko Lazovic; Antonin Barak, Gianluca Caprari; Giovanni Simeone.
MILAN XI (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Sandro Tonali, Franck Kessie; Alexis Saelemaekers, Rade Krunic, Rafael Leao; Olivier Giroud.
Goals:
VERONA, TAKE THE LEAD! 1-0! Caprari receives the ball in midfield and waits for the overlapping run of Lazovic, who gets past Calabria to receive the incisive pass. The wing-back gets into the penalty area and chips across to the far post for Faraoni, who finishes the move with a simple header!
THE MILAN SUPPORTER FINDS THE GOAL! 1-1! Not to be denied nearly 30 minutes after his earlier disallowed effort, Tonali makes it stick this time – turning Leao’s square pass across the face of the goal past Montipo from close range while falling on his back!
IT’S TONALI AGAIN! 2-1 MILAN! The midfielder cannot be stopped today, once again getting on the end of Leao’s pass across the face of the goal to tuck the ball home at the far post! It was an almost 70 metre run from the Portugal international to set up the chance, following Caprari’s corner at the other end!
MILAN, GET THEIR INSURANCE! 3-1! Florenzi comes on and seemingly secures the three points for the Rossoneri in just two minutes, playing a lovely one-two pass with Messias before breaking into the penalty area and beating Montipo with a low shot to the far post!
So, what’s next?
Verona remains home to host Torino next Saturday, while Milan welcomes Atalanta to San Siro in one week.
