TIME MACHINE: EMPOLI v AC MILAN

The Rossoneri took a trip to Empoli's Stadio Castellani on matchday 24 in Serie A, their fifth match in the second half of the campaign. The Tuscan stadium holds great memories for the squad having never lost there in the top division. Ahead of our upcoming challenge against the Azzurri, Time Machine will remind you of one of our best results in the 2016/17 season, a 4-1 win thanks to Lapadula and Suso's joint brilliance. The Rossoneri, under manager Vincenzo Montella at the time, arrived in Tuscany following a 2-2 draw in the Milan derby in their previous match.

In the Derby, Suso was undoubtedly the talisman, firing home a brace, and, against Empoli, the Spaniard confirmed his class by continuing his top form. Both he and Lapadula, who scored two goals, were a class above the rest throughout the game. Having scored both his first goal for the Rossoneri and the winning goal in Palermo only two matchdays earlier, Gianluca broke the deadlock at the Castellani in the 15th minute following Suso's clever cross. Kucka started the move, winning the ball high up the field, before Lapadula slotted it home into the bottom left corner. The lead only lasted two minutes however as Saponara levelled the scoring in the 17th minute, firing home into an unguarded net following Donnarumma's clearance. There was still much to play for with the half ending 1-1.

Suso added to his assist by slotting home in the 61st minute putting us back in front, after a similar move to the first goal, with Ignazio Abate's clever cut back setting up Suso's tidy finish into the far left corner. The goal fired up the Rossoneri and three minutes later, they scored a third thanks to Giacomo Bonaventura, whose bursting run into the box followed by a clever cross was turned into his own net by Costa. Then, ten minutes before the final whistle, Lapadula, once again set up by Suso, found the back of the net with his left foot, beating Skorupski once again. Game, set and match for Montella's side.

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