With a victory at home at the San Siro against Spezia, AC Milan could, if they win, overtake Inter in the league table, certainly with one more match, and take over the league lead.
But that did not happen.
Instead, it was a shock loss.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played the entire match, led a fairly anonymous existence on the field but stood up on two occasions.
At the score 0-0, the Swede came free after 25 minutes, pushed away his defender, and finished low against goalkeeper Ivan Provedel.
Provedel threw out one foot and steered the ball to the corner.
When the clock ticked up in 93 minutes, the Swede nodded in the crossbar, but even then the Spezia goalkeeper saved.
Milan cost themselves to miss a penalty, Theo Hernandez, before Rafael Leao set the lead.
The visitors equalized in the second half and then Milan pressed for a winning goal.
Junior Messias had a ball in goal in stoppage time, but the referee had blown for a home free kick only the hundredths before.
When the clock ticked at 96, Spezia countered and Emmanuel Gyasi decided with the last kick of the match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored in the last match against Venice, has not netted in two straight league matches since mid-November 2020.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic misses great position against Venice