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AC Milan gave the fans one final show at San Siro to end 2025, as they beat Hellas Verona 3-0 to end the year on a winning note.
After a rather cagey opening 45 minutes, Christian Pulisic opened the scoring in added time at the end of the first half, capitalising on a flick-on from a corner to fire in from close range.
Then, Pulisic allowed Christopher Nkunku to take a penalty that he won early in the second half, which he converted emphatically for his first Serie A goal since arriving at the club.
Nkunku scored again a few minutes later, tapping home from close range after a Luka Modric shot had been tipped onto the post but rolled across the line, and the Frenchman reacted first.
The 3-0 victory means that Milan have the possibility of ending the year in top spot, depending on Inter’s result against Atalanta tonight. Ivan Stoev has picked out five talking points from the Verona win.
1. Better late than never
Following his move from Chelsea – one that cost Milan €37m in the summer – it’s fair to say that Nkunku has been a flop thus far given he had zero goals in 15 league games at his new club.
Just as rumours started to mount that Milan might try to offload the Frenchman in January he appears to have waken up and reacted at last as he bagged a brace to help Milan seal the 3-0 win against Verona.
Despite the goals not being the most flashy, he finally had a big impact on the game. He won a penalty for his side and converted it calmly to make the score 2-0 and then reacted quickly to beat the keeper on a loose ball and tap it in to get the third and final goal.
In addition, he combined better with his team-mates and his build-up was much much better this time out. He also could’ve gotten an assist with a good pass to Ruben Loftus-Cheek who didn’t do enough to make it count.
Overall it was finally a positive performance by Nkunku and Allegri will be hoping that his is the start of something long lasting and not just a one off.
2. The metronomes
It was a must-win game and in order for that to happen Milan needed to control the game and limit Hellas Verona’s attempts to counter after containing. For this reason, the battle of the midfield trios was always going to be decisive.
Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot did just that, with the Croatian impressing again with the things that we have become accustomed to: his work rate, his shielding of the defence, his desire to always show for the ball and his line-breaking passes.
Rabiot was also very lively, if not more than Modric. The Frenchman got the assist on Pulisic’s goal that opened up the scoring and then made himself available all over the pitch allowing his team to keep the ball and put pressure on Verona.
It was a very solid display and a reminder of exactly what needs to be done against sides that sit back and force Milan to be creative. With the experienced duo pulling the strings, things feel a lot safer in both phases.
3. Clean sheet at last
It’s been a while since Milan have looked solid defensively and especially against a team at the bottom end of the table. In that regard, it was refreshing to see a compact and focused team at the back that didn’t allow Hellas Verona to trouble Mike Maignan at all.
As we mentioned, the midfield did its job well so that the defence had little to do, but when they were called into action the three centre-backs made no mistake. Verona were often direct but the aerial balls were dealt with relatively easily.
Unfortunately for Koni De Winter, he had his shaky moments again especially in possession, even though there were no errors leading to goals this time. This again highlights the need for reinforcements in that area of the pitch and hopefully the management will address this in the next month.
4. A matter of timing
Christian Pulisic got back to scoring ways after a rather quiet game in the Supercoppa Italiana and against Sassuolo. Today, the American looked much better and the goal was in typical Pulisic fashion as he positioned himself well in the box to make the most out of his first real chance of the game.
This makes it Pulisic’s 10th goal of the season as he continues to be crucial for Milan and continues to improve on his previous season as well, establishing himself as a leader under Max Allegri. It feels like personal records could keep tumbling for him.
Sadly for Allegri and the fans, Pulisic has been barely able to play alongside Rafael Leao since the start of the season with both having alternating injuries. Hopefully both of them will be fully fit going into the new year and Allegri will be able to have a bit more fire power.
5. A hurdle jumped
Despite all the good results this season it’s fair to say that Milan have struggled against newly promoted sides and side sitting in the bottom half of the table.
Although Milan have only one loss all season, against Cremonese, the Rossoneri threw away points against Pisa, Parma, Sassuolo and the win against a struggling Fiorentina was far from convincing.
Given the situation it’s fair to praise Allegri as he finally found the way to play against a low block and win in a convincing way, all while keeping a clean sheet too. Hopefully Milan can get more out of these games in the second half of the season which will allow them to start dreaming about the Scudetto.
After the win against Verona, there is Cagliari, Genoa and Fiorentina to come early in the new year. All are in the bottom six, so there is a real chance to at least keep pace at the top, if not create a bit of a gap.
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