Sassuolo 2-0 AC Milan: Nemeses score again and Tomori sees red in dire afternoon

AC Milan complicated their pursuit of a Champions League place as they were beaten 2-0 by Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium on Sunday.

When Domenico Berardi fired in an early goal to continue his trend of being Milan’s kryptonite, it already felt like it could be a long afternoon in Reggio Emilia. Fikayo Tomori then got a red card after being booked twice in what was a worrying first-half collapse.

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Armand Lauriente – another player who loves a goal against the Rossoneri – bagged a second for the home side early in the second half to severely hamper any comeback hopes, and the end result was yet another defeat without scoring.

The loss means that Milan still require six points to clinch a top four spot at the most, but with only three games to go and while waiting to see how Roma get on against Bologna.

First half: Disaster unfolds

Massimiliano Allegri made three changes to the starting line-up from the one that drew with Juventus. Ardon Jashari replaced the injured Luka Modric, Pervis Estupinan got a chance on the left, while Christopher Nkunku partnered Rafael Leao up front.

With not even five minutes on the clock, Sassuolo got the opening goal of the game and it came from a rather predictable source. Berardi – back from a two-game ban – was the man who got it, finishing precisely inside the far post with his left foot after a feed from Lauriente. Appeals for a foul on Jashari yielded nothing as the Italian got his 12th goal against the Rossoneri.

It was nearly 2-0 a couple of minutes later as the home side broke at speed following shouts for a penalty in their own box. Lauriente did brilliantly down the left side then cut in to slide a through ball to Nzola, whose shot was tipped away by Mike Maignan.

Another couple of minutes passed and Sassuolo were in again. This time it was Lauriente who was on the end of a through ball and he battled for it with Gabbia before going to the floor with only Maignan to beat. The referee deemed the contact to not be worthy of a penalty kick, though.

The game seemed to be a constant exchange of penalty appeals. In the 17th minute it was Nkunku’s turn to take a tumble inside the box as he tried to create space for a shot just inside the box, yet once again nothing was given.

The action continued at a fast pace as Sassuolo appeared intent on giving their visitors a gift. After coughing up possession deep in their own half, Rafael Leao let the Neroverdi off the hook by firing wide of the post from a central area when it seemed harder to miss.

Things went from bad to worst for Milan in the 24th minute as they were reduced to ten men. Tomori had to be careful having already been booked for stopping a break, and when he clipped Lauriente there was very little doubt in the referee’s mind about giving a second yellow card.

Milan were left temporarily without a right-sided defender and Sassuolo almost took full advantage. A ball over the top found Thorstvedt’s run in behind, though he was eventually crowded out by Strahinja Pavlovic as he tried to bring it down.

After a bit of a lull in proceedings, Milan had the final chance of the half as a ricochet fell kindly to Alexis Saelemaekers, who dragged a low shot just wide of the far post with Turati deciding not to dive for it.

Second half: Bad to worse

Allegri cannot have been happy with what he saw in the first half and he opted to make a change, with Zachary Athekame coming on in place of Nkunku, seemingly marking the switch to a four-man defence.

The change did not exactly have the desired impact. With their first chance of the second stanza, Sassuolo made it 2-0 as Lauriente made it five in five against the Rossoneri with a fierce low shot that beat Maignan at his near post.

It could have gotten even worse for the Rossoneri when a cross from the left found its way to Berardi on the right, and his mishit shot was almost headed in by Thorsvedt from close range but thankfully ended up on the roof of the net.

The one-way traffic continued as Nzola became the latest to miss a chance. Lauriente went down under a challenge from Estupinan as he released the pass, and Nzola fired over after spinning well inside the box.

As the game quickly descended into a nightmare, Allegri made a triple change to try inject some life. Saelemaekers, Fofana and Leao left the field, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Santiago Gimenez and Christian Pulisic coming on. A few minutes later, Samuele Ricci replaced Jashari.

With 10 minutes left and Milan hoping for something from nothing to start believing again, Athekame’s shot that was slashed wide of the near post was pretty symbolic of the day.

The final shot of the match saw Pulisic try and catch Turati out with a free-kick from a narrow angle which we presume was a shot instead of a bad cross. The final whistle blew not long after, ending a miserable day.