AC Milan got all three points in their first league game of 2024 and they scored three goals in the process, comfortably beating Empoli in the end at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.
Milan had a two-goal lead going into the break after Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s lovely strike put Milan ahead in the opening quarter of an hour before Olivier Giroud converted a penalty to double the lead.
After netting in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday night for his first senior goal for the Rossoneri, Chaka Traore came off the bench to add a third in the closing stages and make it a comfortable win in the end.
It is a win which opens up a bit of space after Fiorentina and Bologna dropped points earlier in the round, but Juventus and Inter above both won. You can read our player ratings here, while below are some of the best stats…
An overall look
The general stats suggest that Milan were lucky to win by such a margin, with just a 1.80 Expected Goals tally compared to Empoli’s 0.96, which essentially infers – based on quality of chances – that 1-2 would have been a fairer scoreline.
The Rossoneri did have the bulk of the possession (65%) and while they were outshot 17 to 13 in total, Pioli’s men had six shots on target to the two that the hosts managed. In terms of big chances, there was only one and it went to Milan.
Back to his best
After his outstanding two-assist performance against Cagliari at centre-back in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday night, Theo Hernandez was once again exceptional.
He played all 90 minutes and he made a number of timely blocks inside the box to deny Empoli (3), particularly during their second half spells of pressure.
The Frenchman had 6 clearances and completed 90% of his passes, while his 6/8 duels won show that he was up for the fight and the box-to-box dribble he completed ended with a shot that was sadly straight at the goalkeeper.
Il Pittore at work
Yacine Adli was deployed in a deeper-lying midfield role once again, and he seems to be enjoying the run of opportunities.
What was striking was how much the Franco-Algerian wanted to get on the ball: he had 112 touches in the 90 minutes he played, completing 92 passes (out of 97 attempted, an accuracy of 95%).
He showed his impressive distribution too with 5/5 long balls completed, with some defensive hustle shown as well (4/10 duels won, and 3 tackles).
A couple from Opta
We round things off with two rather interesting stats from OptaPaolo. The first concerns Milan’s English link, one that has in theory been present since Herbert Kilpin founded the club in 1899.
After Loftus-Cheek got his second Serie A goal for the Rossoneri today and with Fikayo Tomori already having three to his name, Milan have two 2+ English goalscorers in a league season for the first time in nearly 40 years.
Then there is the evergreen Olivier Giroud, who reached 10 goals in all competition. It is the 14th season in a row that he has done so, which is the longest streak of any player in the ‘top five’ European leagues.
The details
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Caprile; Ebuehi (28′ Ranocchia), Ismajli, Walukiewicz, Luperto; Gyasi, Grassi (74′ Marin), Maleh; Baldanzi (57′ Cancellieri); Cambiaghi, Caputo (74′ Maldini). Subs: Berisha, Perisan; Indragoli; Destro, Shpendi, Sodero.
AC Milan (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria (70′ Bartesaghi), Kjær (84′ Gabbia), Hernández, Florenzi (35′ Jiménez); Loftus-Cheek (70′ Musah), Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leão (84′ Traorè). Subs: Mirante, Nava; Simić; Romero, Zeroli; Jović.
Referee: La Penna from Roma.
Goals: 11′ Loftus-Cheek (M), 31′ pen. Giroud (M), 88′ Traorè (M).
Booked: 41′ Calabria (M), 54′ Jiménez (M), 81′ Marin (E).
