AC Milan took a huge step towards securing the Scudetto as they came from behind to beat Hellas Verona 3-1 at the Stadio MarcAntonio Bentegodi.
A frantic first half took a bad turn for Milan when Lazovic was found by a cross from Faraoni and he headed in from close range, but the equaliser didn’t take long to come as Rafael Leao set up Sandro Tonali to bundle in from a few yards out.
Early in the second half it was the same combination that combined to give the Rossoneri the lead as the Italian midfielder again was on hand to convert a cut-back from the Portuguese winger, and Alessandro Florenzi came off the bench to fire in a third in the closing stages.
After Inter’s comeback win against Empoli on Friday night it was an important display of character from the squad, who now need just four points from the last two games to win the league.
Head coach Stefano Pioli chose to make a couple of changes to his starting line-up from the game that beat Fiorentina as Rade Krunic got the nod as the playmaker and Alexis Saelemaekers was on the right wing.
The first shot of the game from the Rossoneri came inside eight minutes when Theo Hernandez cut back onto his left foot and let fly with a curling effort from 25 yards out that was never troubling the goalkeeper.
Maignan was called into his first save not long after when Caprari opened up onto his right foot and curled a shot that was straight down the Frenchman’s throat.
Up at the other end Montipo made his first stop of the game when Saelemaekers whipped in a cross from the right side that met the head of Krunic, whose header was heading over the crossbar but had to be tipped over anyway.
Milan thought that they had taken the lead less than 17 minutes in when a long ball over the top was brought down by Sandro Tonali and he bundled his way through on goal, finishing past Montipo with a low shot into the far corner, but VAR was consulted for an offside and the goal was ruled out.
Not long after it was very close to being 1-0 as some neat interplay between Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud saw the latter set up the former with a flick that ended with Montipo making a smart save from close range.
Milan continued to pile on the pressure and after Leao had seen a cross blocked behind for a corner, Giroud should have done better than heading straight into the arms of Montipo from the resulting set piece.
A couple of reminders of Hellas Verona’s threat also arrived when Caprari hit a first time shot wide of the near post and then Simeone found time to spin and shoot on the edge of the box but fired a tame effort into Maignan’s hands.
Verona kept providing reminders of the threat they posed going forward, and it was them who took the lead in the 39th minute. Barak won the ball back in midfield and fed it to Lazovic down the left, who crossed perfectly onto the head of Faraoni for an easy header from the edge of the six-yard box.
Right on the stroke of half-time, Milan levelled proceedings and it was a goal that their pressure deserved. The ball was worked to Leao on the left wing and he breezed past his man, getting to the byline and squaring it where Tonali was on hand to bundle it in from close range.
Milan seized the momentum from the equaliser late in the first half as they scored with their first real attack of the second half. A counter-attack was led by Saelemaekers and resulted in the Belgian finding Leao, who again breezed past Faraoni and squared for Tonali who got his brace.
A double change was made by Pioli just after the hour mark as Giroud and Saelemaekers were withdrawn for Ante Rebic and Junior Messias respectively.
Montipo was called into action again as Leao continued to wreak havoc down the left wing, his time firing from his right foot with a scuffed shot that almost wrong-footed the Verona goalkeeper as he was forced to parry it.
Another substitution came a few moments later when Ismael Bennacer was brought on in place of Rade Krunic.
Kevin Lasagna came off the bench for Verona, a player Milan fans know all too well from his previous exploits against the Rossoneri, and he could have done better when he flicked a header over the bar with his back to goal.
Montipo was left with no choice but to parry a fierce shot from Calabria over the bar with just over ten minutes left as the right-back seized a loose ball and shot from around 25 yards out.
With six minutes left on the clock, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessandro Florenzi made their way onto the pitch in place of Giroud and Leao.
In the 87th minute, Milan made sure of a crucial three points and it could hardly have been a more fitting story. With virtually his first touch of the game, Florenzi strode onto a flick and let fly on the half-volley, finding the far corner with a perfectly placed shot.
well Milan deserve victory today after fine display up milan
FORZA MILAN!!!
Where are the idiots on this forum who call Leao lazy and want to sell him for 40M???????? Where would we be without him this season. As the commentator said he is one of the few players in the world who is “unplayable”. You don’t sell that kind of player unless he requests to leave. So do us all a favor and STFU with those amateur comments. Forza Milan!!!!!!
yeah leao reminds me of ronaldinho!! care free and smiles alot!! and does amazing things on field!!!
Spirited display from the boys. They showed determination even after going a goal down while being the best team on the pitch..
The boys must realise that this is their moment, and they must seize it. This opportunity might never come again for some of them…. For players who may not be in the club after this season, this is the time to increase valuation to attract decent clubs. For the older players, this could be one of the highlights of their careers.
Keep pushing on boys, even though the odds are stacked against us, let’s give it one hell of a fight.
Forza Milan!!!
Those long and fast leg from leao
Im so happy for him and tonali
Forza milan
2 Finales left..let’s go. I was happy with this performance