After securing their progression in the Europa League against Slavia Praha, AC Milan turned their attention to Serie A where they travelled away from home to face Hellas Verona in a bid to increase the gap to Juventus.
Hellas Verona actually started the game well, but Milan eventually got a hold on things and created plenty, hitting the woodwork twice. In the 44th minute however, Theo Hernandez opened the scoring with a finish from a narrow angle after a somewhat fortuitous solo run.
Then at the beginning of the second half, in the 50th minute to be precise, Christian Pulisic scored a goal to double Milan’s lead, but Verona got a goal back in the 64th minute which did add a little bit of stress.
Samuel Chukwueze couldn’t have found a better time to open up his Serie A goal tally as he scored an amazing volley from outside the box make the score 3-1 and secure all three points for his team. Here are five things we observed from the game…
1. Landmarks and records
After a very positive display midweek Pulisic continued in the same fashion against Verona as he was very lively down the right flank creating a lot of chances.
Ironically, in the end he score a tap-in after a rebound following a save on Noah Okafor’s shot, but he was at the right time in the right moment to get his goal.
The American was also better in 1v1 situations compared to recent weeks and he looked sharp, with Pioli hoping to preserve his form for the final part of the season amid a Europa League push.
He left a bit to be desired defensively on Verona’s goal as he really should’ve done more – as should Ruben Loftus-Cheek – but this is a minor thing in an otherwise excellent showing.
Not only that, but the American scored Milan’s 5,000th Serie A goal and in doing so got his 12th of the season, which is a personal single-season record for him.
2. One of those days
In contrast to Pulisic, Rafael Leao was nowhere near as effective with the Portuguese lacking that clinical edge to his game once again.
Admittedly he beat his man on several occasions but then the ruthless instinct needed to provide the final ball or finish himself were missing.
Speaking of finishing, the Portuguese winger missed a great chance to get a goal when he was 1v1 against Verona’s goalkeeper Montipo, and instead of rounding him or dinking over him he sent the ball wide.
Fortunately, Chukwueze came off the bench to ensure that the missed chance would not be rued long into the Veronese night, but Rafa knows he should have buried that and done better on other occasions.
3. An unprecedented Theo
Whilst Leao didn’t chip in with a goal his partner in crime down the left flank, Theo Hernandez, was the Man of the Match without a doubt.
The Frenchman got the opening goal of the game as well as being involved in a lot of dangerous chances, and he combine well with Leao to open up Verona.
The defender had fairly little to do at the back so he made the most out of having that freedom to get forward, both with his diagonal runs infield and those surges to the byline.
After the game Stefano Pioli said something interesting: “… in terms of presence in the group Theo he’s never been like this, not even in the year of the Scudetto. Maybe something triggered in him.”
The former Real Madrid man now has 11 goal contributions in 2024 (three of them goals, eight of them assists) which puts him above the likes of Lautaro Martinez and Victor Osimhen.
4. Worth the wait
Chukwueze hasn’t had much to smile about this season to say he was the most expensive summer signing. He has been behind Pulisic in the pecking order over the last few months and it’s not even a close comparison give the little minutes he has played.
Despite the negatives and the pressure surrounding the Nigerian, Chukwueze did score a couple of important goals in Europe, but never managed to kick on from there and find consistency.
He has looked sharped, however, in the last couple of games and against Verona this finally resulted in a goal, and what a goal it was. It takes incredible technique to connect so sweetly on the volley like that, and to keep it under control.
The ex-Villarreal man will get a morale boost from that for sure and he needs to stay concentrated, build on this performance and have a strong end to the season.
5. Comfortable down the middle
Noah Okafor is another player that has had a mixed season as he hasn’t played as much as the fans expected him to, but he did pick up a couple of injuries that prevented him from finding rhythm.
In spite of this he has five goals and an assist in the league, which doesn’t sound great but given his minutes and the fact that most of them are off the bench actually makes his minutes-per-goal ratio quite good (one every 155 minutes).
Against Verona he didn’t find the back of the net, due to some bad luck too. He had an incredible volley denied by the goalkeeper and the was thwarted again when he was 1v1, but luckily enough the rebound was converted by Pulisic.
One thing is for sure, Okafor can create chances for himself and for his team-mates and is much more mobile compared to Giroud so it was a refreshing to see him against Verona, being involved in multiple situations and probably deserving of a goal.
