AN AFTERNOON TO FORGET
Serie A
It's a second straight defeat in Serie A for AC Milan, who lost 3-1 to Sassuolo at San Siro. Romagnoli opened the scoring in the 21st minute before Scamacca’s finish, an own goal by Kjær and a third from Berardi. The Rossoneri also went down to ten men in the final quarter of an hour for a foul against Romagnoli, who was the last man. A bitter comeback, which also saw AC Milan record their first home loss in the league this season.
Stefano Pioli's team struggled to cope with numerous absences and also a good performance from the Neroverdi, who came out on top despite a good start for the Rossoneri. It's an afternoon to forget, and we can do so quickly as the Rossoneri are back in action on Wednesday evening away at Shevchenko's Genoa, before Salernitana come to San Siro on Wednesday.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v SASSUOLO
REPORT
Maignan returned between the sticks, while Florenzi was selected at right-back and Bennacer and Bakayoko lined up in the middle of the park. And it was this midfield duo who had the first opportunities of the match, with Ismaël seeing his fourth-minute effort blocked and Tiémoué shooting just wide from the edge of the box. The Rossoneri’s next chance resulted them taking the lead: Hernández’s corner found Romagnoli at the near post in the 21st minute, and the Rossoneri captain headed home his first goal of the season. The visitors’ response was immediate: with 24 minutes on the clock, Scamacca unleashed a right-footed strike from over 25 yards out that Maignan could do nothing about. In the 33rd minute, Sassuolo went ahead: Scamacca’s shot from a corner was saved by Maignan, but the ball bounced off Kjær and into the net. The French goalkeeper was called into action in the 36th minute as he saved Raspadori’s low effort.
Coach Pioli shuffled his pack at half-time, sending on Kessie and Messias and introducing a new system. The first chance of the second half fell Leão’s way, but the Portuguese man failed to hit the target with a right-footed curler in the 55th minute. Eight minutes later, Ibrahimović unleashed a powerful drive from distance but watched as it sailed wide. In the 66th minute, Berardi beat Maignan from close range to net a third for the visitors. The Rossoneri tried to react as Messias forced Consigli into a save, but there was another setback with 76 minutes on the clock: Romagnoli brought down Defrel and was sent off for a professional foul. It was an incident that all but killed off the match, with late efforts from Kessie and Ibra coming to nothing. Sassuolo ran out 3-1 winners.
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 1-3 SASSUOLO
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi (69' Pellegri), Kjær, Romagnoli, Hernández; Bennacer (60' Tonali), Bakayoko (46' Kessie); Saelemaekers (80' Kalulu), Díaz (46' Messias), Leão; Ibrahimović. Subs.: Mirante, Tătăruşanu; Ballo-Touré, Conti, Gabbia; Krunić; Maldini. Coach: Pioli.
SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Consigli; Müldür, Ayhan, Ferrari, Kyriakopoulos; Frattesi (79' Harroui), Maxime Lopez, Matheus (79' Toljan); Berardi (79' Traorè), Scamacca (58' Defrel), Raspadori (89' Chiricheș). Subs.: Pegolo, Satalino; Peluso, Rogério; Magnanelli. Coach: Dionisi.
Referee: Manganiello from Pinerolo.
Goals: 21' Romagnoli (M), 24' Scamacca (S), 33' o.g. Kjær (S), 66' Berardi (S).
Booked: 27' Maxime Lopez (S), 38' Raspadori (S), 53' Bennacer (M), 54' Hernández (M), 70' Tonali (M).
Sent off: 77' Romagnoli (M).
The PUMA AC Milan jerseys for the 2021/22 season are available: buy them now!
