BIRTHDAY WEEKEND CELEBRATIONS END ON A HIGH
Serie A
Three goals to nil and a round of applause. A dazzling AC Milan beat Monza at San Siro to record a promising win, with goals from Reijnders, Simić and Okafor. We needed to back up the good feeling following the win in Newcastle and the boys delivered, making it three straight home wins in Serie A following on from Frosinone and Fiorentina. The midday kick-off was made all the more special by Jan-Carlo Simić as the young Serb scored on his professional debut in Serie A. He didn't put a foot wrong and the 2005-born centre-back will remember this day forever, as will Tijjani Reijnders who scored a third-minute opener with a stunning solo strike. His first at San Siro, in front of the Cuva Sud, it couldn't get any better. Okafor wrapped up all three points his his third goal of the season and second at San Siro shortly after being subbed on.
The Swiss forward, alongside Pobega, is one of the more negative notes today; both players were taken off due to injury and we hope it's nothing serious. Another important factor has emerged from the game: a first clean sheet since AC Milan v Fiorentina. Much like the save to deny Mondragora against the Viola, Maignan produced a stunning stop to keep out Colpani's effort today, which capped off a great performance from the defence, which saw Simon Kjær restored to the back line. Now, the team have a few days to prepare for the big trip to Salerno on Friday, which is sure to be tricky as the Granata are desperate for points. It'll be an important chance to build form in Serie A.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v MONZA
THE MATCH
The start of the match was explosive and the first big chance came inside three minutes, with Giroud heading just over from a Florenzi cross. Just a few seconds passed, though, before the opener arrived through Reijnders, who weaved his way through the into the box and poked home past Di Gregorio: 1-0 AC Milan! The lead galvanised the squad and Theo came close to adding a second on eight minutes, from Rafa’s assist, but the visiting keeper came out and got down well. Monza reacted well, though, and made Maignan work following Colombo’s turn and shot, before D'Ambrosio was stopped by Kjær. Di Gregorio stepped up to the plate again after 40' when he made a great save to his right from Florenzi’s well-struck effort. The Rossonero doubled their lead in the 41st minute through debutant Jan-Carlo Simić, who turned home Leão’s low cross in to make it 2-0. We were inches away from grabbing a third after 44' through Pulisic’s sublime left-footed hit that smashed off the crossbar.
The restart opened up with AC Milan wanting a third to kill off the game as soon as possible: Tomori coming close with a header on 53' from Florenzi’s accurate corner. The Brianzoli, just as in the first half, never gave up and had a chance to get back into the game just after the hour mark, but Maignan was imperious and made a stunning save to keep out Colpani from in front of goal. AC Milan replied with Oli’s turn and shot just looping over the bar. Changes were then made by the head coach, after a first-half sub that forced Pobega off: Bartesaghi, Bennacer and Okafor all came on with the latter needing only nine minutes to get on the scoresheet, finishing off a lovely move: Bennacer for Reijnders, who broke centrally and played in Giroud who, like at Newcastle, became provider to tee up Noah, who clinically struck home into the right-hand corner of the net: 3-0 and a deserved round of applause from the San Siro faithful. Okafor’s match lasted only 13 minutes, though, and came off to be replaced by Chukwueze, who orchestrated two counter-attacks at the end that Theo, and then Giroud, failed to finish off. It ended there with the Rossoneri hitting three at San Siro.
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 3-0 MONZA
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Maignan; Florenzi, Kjær (67' Bartesaghi), Tomori, Hernández; Loftus-Cheek (67' Bennacer), Reijnders, Pobega (24' Simić); Pulisic, Giroud, Leão (67' Okafor) (80' Chukwueze). Subs.: Mirante, Nava; Jiménez, Nsiala; Adli, Krunić, Romero; Jović. Coach: Pioli.
MONZA (3-4-1-2): Di Gregorio; D'Ambrosio, Caldirola, Carboni A. (80' Izzo); Pereira, Gagliardini, Pessina (63' Akpa-Akpro), Kyriakopoulos (54' Ciurria); Colpani (62' Carboni V.); Mota, Colombo (54' Marić). Subs.: Gori, Sorrentino; Bettella, Birindelli, Carboni F., Cittadini, Donati; Bondo, Machin, Vignato. Coach: Palladino.
Referee: Aureliano from Bologna.
Goal: 3' Reijnders (M), 41' Simić (M), 76' Okafor (M)
Booked: 34' Reijnders (M), 55' Carboni A. (MO), 92' Gagliardini (MO)
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