Milan (AFP) - Rafael Leao fired AC Milan to a Serie A title statement win with his brace in Saturday's 3-2 derby triumph over Inter Milan lifting his team top of the pile.
Portugal winger Leao struck twice in each half in a pulsating clash at the San Siro, the first since Milan's takeover by RedBird was completed in the week, which put the champions a point ahead of Atalanta and Roma at the summit.
Fans bounced in the stands after a thrilling match full of goalmouth incident which was decided by Leao and Olivier Giroud, who after Marcel Brozovic's 21st minute opener for Inter shot Milan two goals to the good on the hour mark.
However they also had the magnificent Mike Maignan to thank for the three points after the France goalkeeper pulled off four superb stops from Lautaro Martinez, Edin Dzeko -- also a scorer -- and Hakan Calhanoglu.
A second defeat in five matches leaves an Inter team without the injured Romelu Lukaku fifth, level on nine points with Juventus who underwhelmed in their 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, the first of three matches on a bumper Saturday which finishes with Lazio hosting Liverpool's midweek opponents Napoli.
"We have a lot of young players and every day it's a pleasure to work with this talent," said a beaming Giroud.
"We all worked really had to not leave too much space between the lines and you could see today that the whole team was compact and not leaving too much space."
An already breathless encounter which started with the usual spectacular pre-match displays from the fans kicked into an even higher gear in the second half.
Giroud put Milan head in the 54th minute in fortunate fashion when he met the irrepressible Leao's low cross with a scuffed finish which squeaked past Samir Handanovic.
Leao then nearly brought the house down six minutes later, a jinking run leaving him in front of Handanovic just yards form goal where he made no mistake.
Substitute Dzeko pulled a goal back seven minutes later and then Maignan stepped in to keep resurgent Inter out and ensure Milan claimed local bragging rights and top spot.
Juve disappoint in Florence
Juve had the chance to go top temporarily of Italy's top flight against fierce rivals Fiorentina but after taking a ninth-minute lead through Arkadiusz Milik on his first Juve start they failed to earn the win.
"We could have done better with some of our counter-attacks, but we should have closed the match out in the first half," said Allegri, who is under pressure from supporters after a series of dull displays.
"The boys played well, I saw good commitment and we kept our five-match unbeaten run going."
Poland forward Milik added to his late strike against Spezia on Wednesday when he reacted quickly to the arrival of Filip Kostic's stinging volley, meeting the ball with his chest for his second goal for the club.
But they can count themselves fortunate to have left Florence with a draw after Christian Kouame levelled midway through the first half and Mattia Perin pushed Luka Jovic's penalty onto the post just before the break.
Juve had new signing Leandro Paredes make his first start while Angel Di Maria returned after recovering from a thigh injury, but they lacked spark in their third draw from five league fixtures.
A poor performance which featured just four shots is not a good omen for Juve heading into Tuesday's Champions League Group H opener at PSG.
Allegri's conservative style has irritated fans and they are unlikely to be happy with their coach's appeal to "realism" before they head to the French capital.
"The most important match in the Champions League this season is against Benfica at home, and the matches against Salernitana and Monza are more important too," he said.
