AC Milan made it five wins in a row across all competitions as they emerged 3-1 winners against Hellas Verona at the Stadio MarcAntonio Bentegodi on Sunday afternoon.
It was Theo Hernandez who got the opening goal of the game moments before the half-time interval as he took advantage of a couple of lucky ricochets to find himself one on one with the goalkeeper, who he poked the ball past.
Christian Pulisic got the second early in the second half as he had the simple job of tapping into an empty net when Noah Okafor’s shot was saved into his path, though Noslin’s rocket of a shot made things nervy again.
It was Samuel Chukwueze who killed off the game with a beautiful volley off the bench to get his first Serie A goal, and the Rossoneri move three points above Juventus after they dropped points against Genoa.
Stefano Pioli made four changes to the team that beat Slavia Praha in the Europa League on Thursday night. Pierre Kalulu made his first start in 140 days alongside Fikayo Tomori, Tijjani Reijnders and Ismael Bennacer came into the midfield while Noah Okafor led the line.
Milan had the first big chance to take the lead inside four minutes, and it fell to Tomori. Rafael Leao was brought down on the break and Theo Hernandez whipped in a brilliant free-kick that the English defender got on the end of but side-footed it wide of the far post.
Pioli’s side had the better of the opening 15 minutes without a doubt as the left-sided duo of Leao and Theo Hernandez looked particular bright, but they were unable to fashion clear-cut chances when inside the final third as Verona stood firm.
Montipò was called into action in the 19th minute when a corner from the right was flicked on by Tomori and volleyed fiercely by Okafor. The attempt was dipping under the bar, yet the Verona goalkeeper stuck out a hand and tipped it onto the woodwork.
The crossbar again came to Verona’s rescue, this time to deny Christian Pulisic. Theo’s central pass was dummied by Ruben Loftus-Cheek allowing the American to latch onto it and thunder a shot against the frame of the goal, with the ball actually hitting the underside of the bar but bouncing to safety.
Verona had odd moments where they threatened, such as in the 26th minute when Duda worked the ball out to the right for Noslin, who entered the area and tried to find the far corner but dragged it wide.
The Rossoneri continued to push for the opener and Okafor wasn’t a million miles away from getting it when he latched onto Pulisic’s feed inside the box and struck the near side-netting.
Just over a minute before the break, Milan finally took one of their chances. There was an element of fortune about it as Theo got to the byline and just about kept the ball in play, taking advantage of a ricochet to then poke the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper from close range.
Pioli elected to make a change at the break, with Kalulu making way for Matteo Gabbia, and it emerged from the broadcast feed that the Frenchman had sustained a knee sprain.
After a cagey opening to the second half, Milan doubled their advantage as Christian Pulisic got his 12th goal of the season in all competitions. Okafor was the one who did all the work though, winning possession back off the defender and sprinting through before seeing his shot parried into the path of the winger who tapped into an empty net.
The home side had to push to try and get back into the game and a nice cross from the right by Centonze should have probably been buried by Noslin at the far post, yet the ball went high over the crossbar.
Noslin made up for that miss by scoring a screamer to halve the deficit. A cross was not properly cleared and both Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek were unable to stop the forward lashing a half-volley from just outside the edge of the box, which nestled just inside the post with Maignan at full stretch.
A couple of changes then followed, with Olivier Giroud and Yunus Musah the players brought on in place of Pulisic and Loftus-Cheek.
Leao really should have restored Milan’s two-goal advantage with 20 minutes left on the clock. Giroud did an excellent job to hold the ball up and then send the Portuguese winger through on goal, yet when it looked easier to finish than miss he somehow fired wide of the post.
Another substitution followed as Okafor – who had been moved out to the right wing after Pulisic came off – was removed in favour of Samuel Chukwueze.
Chukwueze’s first real impact off the bench was to score the goal that finally killed the contest, and what a goal it was. A corner from the left was cleared to the Nigerian on the edge of the area and he hit it first time on the volley into the far corner past a diving Montipo.
Simon Kjaer also came on in the closing stages and Maignan went down holding his groin after making a late save, so we await further details on his condition. However, Milan saw out the remainder of the game without much drama.
