AC Milan got the three points they needed by beating Verona 1-0 at San Siro on Saturday afternoon.
It was Rafael Leao who got the goal early on with a cool finish but it was a poor display overall in which Milan lacked creativity and potency.
The game did not begin as planned thanks to the heavy rain in northern Italy. It was pouring down ahead of kick-off and after a pitch inspection by the referee and the two team captains, it was decided that there would be a 25-minute delay to proceedings.
Milan certainly weren’t going to let the delay spoil their plans though and Rafael Leao gave the Rossoneri the lead after just eight minutes. Giroud won the ball from a defender and prodded it through to Leao who used his incredible pace to get into the box and he placed it into the bottom corner.
Verona responded fairly well and very nearly got level after 20 minutes when Filippo Terracciano’s cross was met by Michael Folorunsho but Marco Sportiello, making his first Milan start, produced a fine save.
Following that chance for Verona, the rest of the first half passed by with very minimal action. Milan were struggling to create much and players like Giroud and Christian Pulisic seemed to lack sharpness and understanding with their teammates.
Whilst they were not posing much of a threat, Verona were fully aware that with Milan performing like that and the score still at 1-0, they were fully in the game.
The first real chance of the second half fell the way of Verona as Terracciano headed the ball back into the box where Federico Bonazzoli was waiting to volley it straight at Sportiello.
Barring a Leao run into the box, there was very little for Milan to shout about in the second half. Pioli made a double change after 65 minutes to try and inject some life into the team.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek was introduced for Rade Krunic, whilst Giroud was hooked so that Luka Jovic could have some meaningful minutes on the pitch. The 17-year-old Davide Bartesaghi was also introduced for Alessandro Florenzi with just over 10 minutes of the 90 to play.
Having just been introduced from the bench, Noah Okafor went on a very exciting run into the box but he could not find a teammate or a shot on target to finish it off.
His introduction did lead to slightly more intrigue for Milan going forward, but a second goal, or a Verona equaliser, seemed unlikely throughout the entire second half.
The win means that Milan move up to second with 12 points but many teams around them are yet to play this weekend. Verona remain in the top half for now.