Serie A – Pavlovic and Nkunku's goals weren't enough to save AC Milan, who lost 2-3 to Atalanta.

In the 36th round of the 2025/26 Serie A season, AC Milan hosted Atalanta at the San Siro Stadium. They ultimately suffered a surprising 2-3 defeat, finishing fourth with a record of 19 wins, 10 draws, and 7 losses, accumulating 67 points.

Atalanta's record stands at 15 wins, 13 draws, and 8 losses, currently sitting seventh in Serie A with 58 points.

Santiago Jiménez and Adrián Rabiot took turns attempting long-range shots from outside the box from the outset, but the former's shot was saved and the latter's hit the post. Atalanta then launched a counter-attack against AC Milan, breaking the deadlock in the 7th minute: Giacomo Laspadori's shot inside the penalty area was blocked by Koni de Winter, but Ederson followed up with a low shot into the bottom right corner.

After that, Atalanta, leading by one goal, grew stronger. In the 15th minute, Ederson made a diagonal pass forward from the left wing, and Nikola Krstovic unleashed a shot from outside the penalty area, which was saved by Mike Maignan. In the 17th minute, Nikola Zalewski made a long run into the left side of the penalty area, but his low shot was also blocked by Maignan and went out for a corner. In the 29th minute, Atalanta further extended their lead: Krstovic, with his back to Matteo Gabbia in the penalty area, passed the ball across to Davide Zappacosta, who pounced on the loose ball and scored.

In the latter part of the first half, AC Milan, having conceded two goals, began to launch a counter-attack. In the 34th minute, Alexis Saelemaekers delivered a precise through ball, and Jiménez broke into the penalty area and fired a shot, which was brilliantly saved by Marco Carnesechi. In the 36th minute, Jiménez intercepted the ball and delivered a lobbed pass, and Leão dribbled past Zappacosta in the penalty area before his close-range shot was also saved. However, Milan's goal conceded again in the 51st minute of the second half: Ederson delivered a diagonal pass, and Laspadori fired a powerful shot into the net from the left side of the penalty area.

Both sides then exchanged attacks. In the 64th minute, Christopher Nkunku broke into the penalty area from the left wing, created space, and fired a powerful shot that was saved by Karnesekic. In the 69th minute, Raul Bellanova cut inside from the right and crossed the ball in front of the goal, but Krstovic's close-range shot went over the crossbar. In the 75th minute, Niklas Fürkluge held off Horst Ahanoor in the penalty area and passed the ball back to Nkunku, whose shot was tipped over the crossbar by Karnesekic. In the 81st minute, Fürkluge scored a goal in the penalty area, but it was ruled offside by the referee.

In the 88th minute, Samuel Ricci delivered a cross from a free kick in the attacking third, and Strashinja Pavlovic headed the ball into the net from the left side of the penalty area to pull one back for Milan. In the second minute of stoppage time in the second half, Nkunku broke into the penalty area and was tripped by Marten De Roon, resulting in a penalty for Milan. Nkunku then converted the penalty, bringing the score to 2-3 before the final whistle.

Image source: Internet