AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca praised his side’s bravery after they beat city rivals Inter Milan 2-1 on Sunday.

Milan secured a late victory when defender Matteo Gabbia eluded his marker and found the top corner with a perfectly timed header from a free kick in the 89th minute.

Christian Pulisic opened the scoring for Milan in the 10th minute with a solo effort. Inter levelled in the 27th minute when captain Lautaro Martinez set up Federico Dimarco, who found space on the edge of the box and unleashed a powerful strike into the back of the net.

The win marked Milan’s first victory in the Derby della Madonnina since 2022 after suffering six consecutive defeats to Inter.

“It was an important match. First of all, because it’s a derby that Milan hadn’t won in a long time. It was important given the moment we were going through,” Fonseca told DAZN.

“I think the players showed a lot of courage and we deserved the win. I don’t remember seeing a team who caused this many problems for Inter in a long time.”

Fonseca brushed off the suggestion that the victory had eased the pressure on him after a poor start to the campaign in which Milan won only once in five matches across all competitions before Sunday.

“It makes little difference to me, because I don’t read or listen to these things,” he said.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi acknowledged that Milan were the better team at the San Siro and questioned the attitude displayed by his players at times during the match.

“Of course Milan are a very good team. They did better than us this evening and deserved the victory,” Inzaghi said.

With two draws and one loss in Serie A so far, defending champions Inter have endured a mixed start to the campaign.

Comeback win

Victor Boniface’s added-time goal lifted Bayer Leverkusen to a 4-3 comeback win over Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga as the German champions produced another of their trademark late breakthroughs ahead of facing Bayern Munich next week.

It seemed Xabi Alonso’s team might have missed its chance when Granit Xhaka rattled the goalpost with a stoppage-time curling shot, but soon after Boniface made the breakthrough.

All of Wolfsburg’s players — down by one thanks to a red card for Yannick Gerhardt — were packed into the penalty area but Boniface, fresh from showing off an eye-catching skill in Leverkusen’s 4-0 win over Feyenoord, suddenly found space in a crowd of three opponents to turn and shoot past goalkeeper Kamil Grabara.

Just when it seemed new coach Nuri Sahin had given Borussia Dortmund a consistency it was sorely lacking last season, his team crashed to a 5-1 loss at Stuttgart.

The result ends a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions for Dortmund under Sahin.

Simeone optimistic

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone took the positives from his side’s performance in a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, their third stalemate in La Liga this season.

Atletico salvaged a point at Vallecas Stadium thanks to Conor Gallagher’s strike after the break following a sloppy first half in which Isi Palazon had put the hosts ahead.

“I always focus on the positive, on the second half. We conceded a goal but we also had chances to score... We could have won the game,” Simeone said.