AC Milan vs Sassuolo
AC Milan welcomed Sassuolo to the Giuseppe Meazza stadium with some big news in the bag. They have secured the services of Stefano Pioli on a fresh deal till 2023. They also welcomed back goalkeeper Mike Maignan into the starting lineup despite the initial prognosis showing an injury that would last into 2022. Tiémoué Bakayoko also entered the starting lineup. His first start of the season. AC Milan lost their first Serie A game last week, and they were looking to make up for lost points, especially with Napoli losing their talisman and Inter Milan within touching distance.
Sassuolo sits 13th on the table with only four wins so far. They have lost their last three games, but Alessio Dionisi was hoping that his side could find the spirit they used to defeat AC Milan the last time they faced in Serie A in April.
Milan started in their 4-2-3-1 shape with Sassuolo in a 4-3-3.
First Half
AC Milan created the first chance when Ismaël Bennacer’s pass found Theo Hernandez behind the high Sassuolo line. His cross evaded Zlatan Ibrahimović before the assistant referee flagged him for offside. Bakayoko made Andrea Consigli stretch with a long-range shot. Ibrahimović missed a 1v1 but was clearly offside. Theo Hernandez was the next to be flagged offside from a dangerous position after a good break from the Milan club. AC Milan dominated the game for the first 15 minutes, but Maxime Lopez should have done better when Alexis Saelemaekers gave the ball away leaving a 2v2 situation. On 19, Milan got the goal their dominance deserved. A great corner from Hernandez and Alessio Romagnoli headed it in at the near post. Milan 1-0 Sassuolo.
Minutes later, Sassuolo equalized through Gianluca Scamacca. Bakayoko gave the ball away, and Giacomo Raspadori found Scamacca who rifled an effort into the top corner. Milan 1-1 Sassuolo. Milan began to look nervous. Especially the midfield pivot. It led to another goal after Bennacer gave the ball away. From a corner, the ball fell to Scamacca who fired in a shot off Maignan and Simon Kjaer. Milan 1-2 Sassuolo.
Raspadori then forced Maignan into a save on 39 as the Milan shape crumbled under green pressure. Scamacca flashed a header wide before halftime.
Second Half
Changes at the break for Milan as Frank Kessie replaced Bakayoko. Man-of-the-moment Junior Messias replaced Brahim Diaz. Milan came out firing on all cylinders. Rafael Leão curled wide from a counterattack on 54. Grégoire Defrel replaced Scamacca with Sassuolo successfully keeping Milan at bay. Sandro Tonali replaced Bennacer and fired over from a decent area before Ibrahimović shot wide from distance. Despite dominating, Sassuolo scored their third after some calamitous defending from Milan. First, Kessie gave the ball away before Domenico Berardi received the ball, sold Alessio Romagnoli easily before slotting between Maignan’s legs. It was Berardi’s 10th goal against Milan. Milan 1-3 Sassuolo.
Kjaer missed a header from a Messias cross before the Brazilian forced a save from Consigli. Despite dominating the ball, there was too much space between the AC Milan lines. Maxime Lopez was finding a lot of joy poking passes and finding spaces between those lines. Milan has now conceded seven goals in the space of a week. It ended, Milan 1-3 Sassuolo.
Milan travels to face Genoa now under Milan legend Andriy Shevchenko on Wednesday while Sassuolo welcomes Napoli on the same day.
