New AC Milan coach Sergio Conceicao dropped down to his knees on the San Siro sideline, unleashed a loud scream and wrapped his arms around an assistant in an emotional embrace when Samuel Chukwueze bundled in the winner five minutes into stoppage time.
Conceicao has struggled at times to transmit his desire and grit to a team that has been inconsistent in Serie A, but he was clearly moved by Milan’s ability to stay focused this time, though, as the Rossoneri scored two late goals to secure a 3-2 victory against promoted Parma on Sunday.
Conceicao’s grit was also evident after the final whistle when he had to be restrained during a heated exchange with Milan captain Davide Calabria.
“It’s like with your kids when you go to a restaurant and they misbehave and you yell at them. That’s how I am,” Conceicao said.
“Maybe we said a bit too much. But we’re creating a strong bond with the players.”
Conceicao also guided Milan to comeback wins over Juventus and Inter Milan en route to the Italian Super Cup trophy to start the month.
And a midweek win over Girona has left Milan in the top-eight of the Champions League standings.
“Really we need to show some of this hunger earlier in the game because it seems like we always have this energy at the end, and we’re turning the games around,” said United States international Christian Pulisic, who converted a first-half penalty. “But I think we can also make things easier for ourselves.”
Milan also beat Inter in a Serie A derby in September and won 3-1 at Real Madrid in November, but in between the successes have been a series of forgettable performances in the Italian league.
Like a 1-1 draw at home with Cagliari two weeks ago, and a 2-0 loss at Juventus last weekend.
After beating Parma, though, Milan have moved up to sixth and back into contention for the Champions League places.
Chukwueze’s winner came as Milan poured forward desperately in the final moments and Strahinja Pavlovic knocked down a ball for him to push in from close range.
Three minutes earlier, Tijjani Reijnders had equalised for Milan after beating the offside trap.
It was a tough start for Milan, though, as Matteo Cancellieri put Parma ahead midway through the first half.
Pulisic equalised before the break and then Enrico Delprato restored Parma’s advantage in the 80th by knocking in a rebound.
Up next for Conceicao and Milan? The third derby this season with Inter next Sunday.
Meanwhile, defending champions Inter overwhelmed relegation-threatened Lecce 4-0 with goals from Davide Frattesi, Lautaro Martinez, Denzel Dumfries and Mehdi Taremi.
Inter moved back to within three points of Serie A leaders Napoli, who beat Juventus 2-1 on Saturday. The Nerazzurri also still have a game in hand.
Roma won 2-1 at Udinese for their first away victory of the season. Lorenzo Pellegrini and Artem Dovbyk converted second-half penalties for Roma after Lorenzo Lucca had put Udinese ahead in the first half.
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