ROME (AP) — Rafael Leão hasn’t displayed this kind of form with regularity since he was Serie A ’s MVP four seasons ago and led AC Milan to the league title.
Mike Maignan also emphasized his importance to the Rossoneri on Sunday.
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Roma's Paulo Dybala misses to score the penalty during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Strahinja Pavlovic, centre right, celebrates with Rafael Leao, centre left, after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Rafael Leao, right, and Roma's Manu Kone challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Fiorentina's head coach Stefano Pioli gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Lecce at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, center of Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
Torino's Giovanni Simeone, center right, scores during the Serie A soccer match between Torino and Pisa in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Piotr Zielinski scores during the Serie A soccer match between Hellas Verona and Inter in Verona, Italy, Sunday Nov. 2, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)
Fiorentina's Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, center, fights for the ball with Lecce's Nikola Stulic and Medon Berisha during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Lecce in Florence, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
A burst of speed from Leão led to the only goal and Maignan preserved the advantage by saving a penalty kick from Paulo Dybala late in the second half of a 1-0 victory over Roma.
Shortly before the break, Leão accelerated from the left flank on a counterattack and pulled back for Strahinja Pavlovic to knock in.
Leão also created several more chances at the San Siro, with a one-handed save from Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar denying him in the second half.
There was also a goal-line clearance from Roma defender Mario Hermoso to deny Leão.
Maignan then denied Dybala by lunging to his left to push the Roma playmaker's effort away. Making matters worse for Roma was that Dybala appeared to injure himself while taking the penalty and had to exit the match for the final minutes. He had converted all 18 of his previous penalties with Roma.
Leão missed the opening month of the season because of a calf injury but has returned to form while the Rossoneri are without Christian Pulisic, who is now out with an injured right hamstring. Leão also scored twice in a win over Fiorentina last month and now has three goals and an assist in his last four matches.
Milan moved level with Roma and Inter Milan, one point behind Serie A leader Napoli.
Before kickoff, a moment of silence was observed in memory of former coach Giovanni Galeone, who was a mentor to both Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri and Roma’s Gian Piero Gasperini.
Galeone died Sunday at 84.
Fiorentina’s crisis deepened with a 1-0 loss at home to Lecce on Sunday that left the Viola winless through 10 rounds and put coach Stefano Pioli’s job at serious risk.
Medon Berisha volleyed midway through the first half for Lecce after Fiorentina midfielder Cher Ndour lost control near mid-field.
A VAR review erased a penalty chance for Fiorentina in the second half.
Pioli was hired when previous Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino unexpectedly left after guiding the club to a sixth-place finish last season.
Fiorentina has done well in Europe recently, finishing runner-up in consecutive Conference League finals before reaching the semifinals of the third-tier continental competition last season.
Through two matches of this season's Conference League, Fiorentina tops the table. The Viola next visit Mainz on Thursday.
Pioli led Milan to the Serie A title in 2022 then coached Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia before joining Fiorentina.
Fiorentina remained next to last, one point above Genoa. Lecce moved up to 15th.
On Saturday, Fiorentina announced that it had terminated the contract of sporting director Daniele Prade by mutual consent. Now, Pioli could be the next one out.
Earlier, Inter moved within one point of Napoli with a 2-1 win at Hellas Verona that was decided with a stoppage-time own-goal.
Piotr Zielinski put Inter ahead early on when Inter executed a set piece from a corner kick. Giovane equalized for Verona before the break.
Then Pio Esposito’s presence led to an inadvertent header into his own goal from Martin Frese three minutes into added time.
Also, Bologna won 3-1 at 10-man Parma to move up to fifth, and Torino and Pisa drew 2-2.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Roma's Paulo Dybala misses to score the penalty during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Strahinja Pavlovic, centre right, celebrates with Rafael Leao, centre left, after scoring the opening goal during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
AC Milan's Rafael Leao, right, and Roma's Manu Kone challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Roma in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Fiorentina's head coach Stefano Pioli gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Lecce at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, center of Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
Torino's Giovanni Simeone, center right, scores during the Serie A soccer match between Torino and Pisa in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)
Inter Milan's Piotr Zielinski scores during the Serie A soccer match between Hellas Verona and Inter in Verona, Italy, Sunday Nov. 2, 2025. (Paola Garbuio/LaPresse via AP)
Fiorentina's Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, center, fights for the ball with Lecce's Nikola Stulic and Medon Berisha during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Lecce in Florence, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. (Marco Bucco/LaPresse via AP)
HAVANA (AP) — Trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport Thursday as white-gloved Cuban soldiers marched out of a plane carrying urns with remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela.
Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and placed the urns on a long table next to the pictures of those killed. Tens of thousands of people paid their respects, saluting the urns or holding their hand over their heart, many of them drenched from standing outside in a heavy downpour.
Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized over the past half-century.
The soldiers were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the Jan. 3 raid on his residence to seize the former leader and bring him to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges.
State television also showed images of more than a dozen people it said were wounded combatants from the raid, accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez after arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.
Tensions between Cuba and the U.S. have spiked, with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.
Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.
Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas called the slain soldiers “heroes” of an anti-imperialist struggle spanning both Cuba and Venezuela. In an apparent reference to the U.S., he said the “enemy” speaks of “high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy.
“We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother,” Álvarez said.
The events demonstrate that “imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.
Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, was among the thousands of Cubans who lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.
“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” Gómez said, adding that she hopes no one invades her country. “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
The 32 military personnel ranged in age from 26 to 60 and were part of protection agreements between the two countries.
Officials in Cuba have said they expect a massive demonstration Friday across from the U.S. Embassy to protest the deaths.
“People are upset and hurt ... many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.
In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.
In December 1989, officials organized a ceremony to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in a war that defeated the South African army.
In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.
The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived for four years in Venezuela.
“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”
The remains arrived a day after the U.S. announced $3 million in additional aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa. The first flight took off on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.
Cuba had said on Wednesday that any contributions will be channeled through the government.
But U.S. State Department foreign assistance official Jeremy Lewin said Thursday that the U.S. was working with Cuba’s Catholic Church to distribute aid, as part of Washington's efforts to give assistance directly to the Cuban people.
“There’s nothing political about cans of tuna and rice and beans and pasta,” he said Thursday, warning that the Cuban government should not intervene or divert supplies. “We will be watching, and we will hold them accountable.”
Lewin said the Cuban government has a choice to: “Step down or better provide towards people.” Lewin added that “if there was no regime,” the U.S. would provide “billions and billions of dollars” in assistance, as well as investment and development: “That’s what lies on the other side of the regime for the Cuban people.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said the U.S. government was “exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes.”
Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
People line up outside the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the remains are on display of the Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro, as it sprinkles rain in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Military members line up outside the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro, are on display in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
