THREE GOALS AND THREE POINTS
Serie A
Mesdames et Messieurs, l'AC Milan. Adli opened the scoring, Giroud doubled our lead and Theo made it three. Three goals "fabriqué en France" secured a 3-1 home victory over Roma. The Rossoneri largely dominated the game, only looking under pressure for a few minutes in the wake of Paredes' penalty to make it 2-1. San Siro celebrated a fifth straight home win in Serie A, which sees us strengthen our grip on third place with an eight-point lead over Fiorentina and nine over Lazio. It was a good performance and there are plenty of noteworthy positives: Adli's first goal for the Club, as he opened the scoring in the eleventh minute after a brilliant dummy to beat Kristensen at the edge of the box. Then there's Giroud, who headed home our second in the 56th minute - as he made it double figures in Serie A for the third season running - and then Hernández's lethal strike to make it 3-1.
Theo was restored to his usual role at left-back and continued his brilliant form following three assists in the Coppa Italia. He bagged his third league goal of the season; all three have come at San Siro, after scoring against Torino and Fiorentina. There was a lot to like this evening, including two stops from Mike and a brilliant performance from Gabbia and Kjær against Lukaku. All signs point to a positive reaction after getting knocked out of the Cup. The Rossoneri now face a tough trip to Udine next Saturday night, a ground where we haven't won since November 2020.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v ROMA
MATCH REPORT
Coach Pioli selected Adli alongside Reijnders in the middle of the park, while Gabbia and Kjær formed the centre-back pairing and Theo returned to the left flank. The visitors made the brighter start and caused a few problems for the AC Milan defence early on, but the Rossoneri responded with a fine eleventh-minute goal from Yacine Adli, who received the ball on the edge of the box, sidestepped his marker and beat Svilar with his left foot. It was the Frenchman’s first competitive goal in our shirt after previous finishes against Wolfsberger and Lumezzane in friendlies. Having gone one up, the Rossoneri took control of the match and could have doubled their advantage in the 28th minute, but Svilar was able to deny Pulisic. Just a minute later, a cross-shot from Theo hit the woodwork. Then, at the other end, Çelik forced Maignan into an excellent save. The final two chances of the first half fell the way of Pioli’s men: following a Giroud pull-back, Pulisic saw his effort deflected behind for a corner (31’), and the American was again involved six minutes later as he headed a Rafa cross narrowly wide.
The second half kicked off with two efforts, with both Reijnders and Loftus-Cheek firing off target. Gabbia also had a go with a header but couldn’t direct it towards goal from close range. However, the Rossoneri then deservedly added a second through Olivier Giroud, who nodded home from just a couple of yards out after Kjær’s knock-down in the area. After attempts by both Pulisic and Calabria, Roma were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute and Paredes stepped up to convert just as AC Milan were enjoying their best spell of the game. Roma were back in it and Pellegrini threatened on more than one occasion, but the Rossoneri restored their two-goal advantage through Hernández, who latched onto a lovely back-heel flick from Giroud and thundered home a brilliant strike off the underside of the bar (84’). In the 90th minute, Musah came inches away with an effort that thumped the base of the near post. It finished 3-1 to us.
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 3-1 ROMA
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Kjær, Gabbia, Hernández (89' Jiménez); Loftus-Cheek, Adli (89' Zeroli), Reijnders; Pulisic, (79' Musah). Giroud, Leão (79' Okafor). Subs.: Mirante, Nava; Bartesaghi, Simić, Terracciano; Romero; Jović, Traorè. Coach: Pioli.
ROMA (3-5-2): Svilar; Kristensen, Mancini (46' Pellegrini), Llorente (78' Huijsen); Çelik (78' Zalewski), Cristante, Paredes, Bove, Spinazzola; Lukaku, El Shaarawy (60' Belotti). Subs.: Boer, Rui Patrício; Karsdorp; Pisilli, Zalewski; João Costa. Coach: Foti (Mourinho suspended).
Referee: Guida from Torre Annunziata.
Goal: 11' Adli (M), 56' Giroud (M), 69' pen. Paredes (R), 84' Hernández (M).
Booked: 43' Mancini (R), 71' Kjær (M), 81' Huijsen (R), 90' Gabbia (M).
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