Rabiot and Milan give Como French lesson to stay on Inter’s heels

Adrien Rabiot made sure that AC Milan stayed three points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan with a brilliant brace in Thursday’s 3-1 win at high-flying Como, a victory that had a distinct French flavour.

France midfielder Rabiot lashed home two great strikes in the 55th minute and moments from the end to sink lakeside outfit Como after also winning the penalty from which fellow “Bleu” Christopher Nkunku levelled the scores, against the run of play and on the stroke of half-time.

A 19th straight league match without defeat has Massimiliano Allegri’s team on 40 points, three away from Inter but also the same amount ahead of champions Napoli who were held by Parma on Wednesday night and sit third.

Defeat was harsh on sixth-placed Como who took the lead through Marc Oliver Kempf in the 10th minute but now sit five points from the Champions League positions after being frustrated by Rabiot’s match-winning display and a stellar performance from another Frenchman in Mike Maignan.

Milan could have easily been three goals behind before Nkunku thumped home his spot-kick had it not been for goalkeeper Maignan, whose saves allowed the away side to pick Como’s pocket.

Moments before Adrien Rabiot won Milan’s penalty — helped by an acrobatic tumble — Maignan pulled off the best of his six saves, keeping out Luca Da Cunha’s header from point-blank range and leaving the midfielder baffled as to how he didn’t score.

And Nico Paz was exasperated when Maignan got his finger tips to the Argentina youngster’s powerful low drive, a save which preceded Rabiot’s first arrowed strike by moments.

Paz also clipped the crossbar on the hour mark as Como continued in vein to push for what would have been a deserved equaliser, but with the clock ticking down Rabiot ended the discussion by clouting a long-range effort past Como goalkeeper Jean Butez — another Frenchman.

Earlier Bologna snapped a seven-match winless streak with an eventful 3-2 win at Verona who sink to the bottom of the table following an 11th defeat of the season.

Riccardo Orsolini, Jens Odgaard and Santiago Castro all scored fine goals as Bologna, who lost the Super Cup final to Napoli, moved up to eighth and four points behind Como.