TRAORÈ'S GOAL WAS ENOUGH FOR THE PRIMAVERA TO BEAT SASSUOLO
Youth Teams
AC Milan Primavera continue to grind out the results as they recorded a second consecutive win in the league following the big win over Bologna in midweek. Chaka Traorè's goal was enough for the Rossoneri to beat Sassuolo at home; Traorè thus drew level with Roback on seven goals this season, joint second behind Nasti with eleven.
Federico Giunti's boys now head into a tricky week with two big games: they will first host Torino, who are now two points behind the Rossoneri following a draw with league-leaders Roma. AC Milan will then travel to Rome to take on the Giallorossi on matchday 20.
CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN V SASSUOLO
REPORT
It was a very even first half, with the Rossoneri creating the first big chances before the Neroverdi looked to respond. Capone had two chances between the 22nd and 25th minute; the first - set up by Nasti - went wide of the post before he went one-on-one with Vitale only for the Sassuolo stopper to make the save. Sassuolo got on the front foot in the 33rd minute and almost scored an absolute stunner from range through Abubakar: Desplanches scrambled to make the save. The only goal of the game came in the 39th minute; Nasti played it forward to Traorè, who carved out a yard of space inside the box and fired past Vitale. The Rossoneri went into the break a goal to the good.
Chances were few and far between after the restart and a stop-start game - seven yellow cards in the second half - hindered Sassuolo's attempts to find an equaliser. Desplanches did produce two stunning stops to maintain the Rossoneri's lead: the first to deny Diawara and the second to keep out Casolari's effort. The final whistle blew after six intense minutes of added time and Giunti's boys came away with three hard-fought points.
Coach Giunti after the game: "It's a good result and I'm really happy. The boys deserved to win; we battled against a really tough side. I can only ever be delighted with a performance like that. I think they have improved a lot in terms of technique and, when the lads put in a team performance like that, it makes me proud. It was a difficult game but we did well to open the scoring. We never gave up and we got all three points."
On his team's growth: "We're not only looking at the standings. We were distracted for the Derby but that wasn't the case today. We now have another busy week coming up: we play again in three days and we're taking on two good teams in Torino and Roma. We'll need to recover our energy because we need the whole squad fit and firing in order to continue down this path."
MATCH DETAILS
AC MILAN 1-0 SASSUOLO
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Desplanches; Coubis, Bosisio, Obaretin, Bozzolan; Robotti (29′ Tolomello), Di Gesù, Gala (90' Alesi); Traorè (61' Omoregbe), Nasti (74' El Hilali), Capone (90' Nsiala). Subs.: Nava, Pseftis; Camara, Piantedosi; Bjorklund, Eletu; Rossi. COacg: Giunti.
SASSUOLO (4-3-3): Vitale; Paz, Flamingo, Miranda, Pieragnolo; Abubakar (27′ Ahmed), Zenelaj (46' D’Andrea), Aucelli (33′ Baldari); Ngingi (46' Casolari), Diawara, Forchignone (66′ Mata). Subs.: Zacchi; Rosa, Loeffen, Cehu; Macchioni, Kumi. Coach: Bigica
Referee: Cavaliere di Prato.
Goal: 39' Traorè (M)
Booked: 17′ Zenelaj (S), 28′ Obaretin (M), 57' Aucelli (S), 61' Traorè (M), 65' Bosisio (M), 65' Abubakar (S), 82' Bozzolan (M), 93' Casolari (S), 96' D’Andrea (S)
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