Milan seal first Serie A title in 11 years but Pioli claims his medal was stolen

Milan clinched their first Italian Serie A title in 11 years after earning a 3-0 final-day victory at Sassuolo, with a double from Olivier Giroud and one from Franck Kessie sealing the Scudetto in style.

Stefano Pioli’s side came into the final round of fixtures knowing a point would be enough for them to finish top ahead of rivals Inter Milan, but after Giroud squeezed the ball home in the 17th minute, a 19th Serie A title never looked in doubt.

Giroud stabbed home a second in the 32nd minute after further fine work from Rafael Leão to put Pioli’s men on course for the trophy. There was no relenting from Milan as Kessie slotted home a third four minutes later to effectively put the game, and title race, to bed before half-time.

Mario Balotelli gave fans a reminder of his talent when he scored five goals for Adana Demirspor on the final day of the Turkish Super Lig season. The striker got his first goal in the 33rd minute and his fifth in the 70th in a 7-0 drubbing of relegated Goztepe.

The five-goal haul – which had a magical strike that included multiple stepovers before he found the net with a rabona – allowed him to shoot up the league's scoring charts. The 31-year-old finished with 18 goals, two shy of the top scorer, Umut Bozok of Kasimpasa.

Once Italy's main striker and the top scorer at Euro 2012, Balotelli seemed to have lost his way when he played last season in Serie B with Monza before joining promoted Demirspor.

Having last played for Italy in 2018, he was called up for a training camp this year, reviving hopes he would play for the Azzurri again. But Roberto Mancini, who coached him at Internazionale and Manchester City, did not name him in the World Cup playoffs squad as Italy failed to qualify. Reuters

Af