11 hours ago
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AC Milan secured a huge three points at San Siro on Sunday night, scoring the solitary goal of a hard-fought contest to beat Roma 1-0.
Given how good both sides have been defensively this season, it probably needed something a bit different to provide the winning moment, and it came from Strahinja Pavlovic. The centre-back bombed forward to support a counter-attack, and was rewarded by being on the end of a Rafael Leao cut-back.
In a second half full of clashes and missed chances, Paulo Dybala had a huge chance to give Roma a share of the spoils, yet he failed to beat Mike Maignan from the penalty spot with 10 mi notes remaining.
The result means that Milan go above Roma in the table and manage to keep pace with those at the top, going one point behind the league-leaders Napoli too.
Massimiliano Allegri decided to make two changes to the starting line-up compared to the team that drew with Atalanta. Christopher Nkunku came in for the injured Santiago Gimenez, while Koni De Winter took over from Fikayo Tomori who passed a late fitness test to make the bench.
The first chance of the game fell to Roma inside 60 seconds, and to the former Milan man Bryan Cristante. A bad giveaway from Mike Maignan saw the ball worked to the midfielder – playing a relatively new role behind the two strikers – who placed a shot wide of the right post.
Roma’s bright start to the game continued as they were inches away from taking the lead in the 10th minute. A free-kick from the left was recycled and crossed from the right, with N’Dicka rising highest but glancing just wide of the far stick.
Milan could barely get a foothold in the game as they continued to cough up possession in their own half and suffer Roma pressure. Wesley had a snapshot on goal from a narrow angle that Maignan saved quite comfortably, but the warning signs were flashing.
Dybala was very close to getting what would have been his 11th goal against Milan as the San Siro crowd groaned at yet more sloppy play. Celik fooled Luka Modric with a feint, then Koni De Winter misjudged a cross, but Dybala’s outside of the boot attempt thankfully curled just wide of the upright.
El Aynoui was a menace for Roma going forward, as he kept pushing up to be the spare man to support attacks. With his first effort he shot straight at Maignan, then with another he rolled one a couple of yards wide, but both times he ghosted into a dangerous central area.
Against the run of play, Milan took the lead with just over six minutes left in the first half, and it was Pavlovic who got the goal. Milan were actually defending a Roma attack when they won the ball back and quickly passed out, then it was all Leao as he darted 50 yards to the left byline, cutting back a perfect feed for Pavlovic – who had bombed forward – to fire into the back of the net from close range.
That goal seemed to instantly cause a power shift in the game, as Milan again had Svilar scrambling. This time it was Christopher Nkunku who let fly with a snapshot from the edge of the box, but the goalkeeper got there in plenty of time.
Moments before the half-time whistle, the Diavolo really should have doubled their advantage. Again Leao was involved as he released the overlapping Davide Bartesaghi, whose pull-back found Youssouf Fofana’s run and yet – with most of the goal to aim at – he somehow missed the target.
It was an utterly frantic beginning to the second half in which Milan had multiple chances to make it 2-0. The first one fell to Samuele Ricci, who was looking to score with yet another first-time hit from outside the box like against Atalanta, though this time it fell just a yard wide.
Then, Svilar was forced to make a sharp save to thwart Leao, who had found space on the left edge of the box. From the resulting corner, Nkunku was found completely unmarked in a central area about six yards out, yet he somehow hit the post as the ball cannoned off his midriff.
Midway through the second half, Milan simply had to get their second goal of the night as Leao spurned a golden opportunity. Some nice play down the right side resulting in a cross to the far stick and the volley back across goal was spilled to the Portuguese. From yards out and with a mostly empty goal to aim at, he inexplicably hit Hermoso on the line.
Out of nowhere, a flashpoint developed between Saelemaekers and Wesley on Milan’s right side. It started when the Belgian jockeyed the Brazilian out and gave him a stare-down, then a couple of minutes later the latter kicked the former up into the air, earning a yellow card.
Inside the final 15 minutes, the drama just kept on coming. Fofana gave away a free-kick right on the edge of Milan’s box after a rash challenge, and then he blocked the resulting set-piece with his arm to give the away side a penalty.
However, at a time when his record against spot kicks had been put under scrutiny by the media, Maignan rose to the occasion. Dybala went bottom right but didn’t get enough power on it, with the Frenchman parrying it around the corner.
A substitution followed for Milan, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming on to replace Nkunku to try and give a bit more size and presence up front.
Moments after Bartesaghi had hip-checked Baldanzi in response to Roma not kicking the ball out for the injured Saelemaekers, Zachary Athekame came on for the man who was previously down on the floor.
The final change came in the final minute of four added at the end of the 90 as Leao made way for Fikayo Tomori, having just gone down with cramp.
English (US) ·