GdS: A point that does little good – three reasons Milan were held by Fiorentina

AC Milan had to battle from behind to get a point against Fiorentina, but again were unable to beat a side in the bottom few places.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, it is a draw that doesn’t do a lot of good for either side. Fiorentina continue to look up at Genoa, who are two points clear of the relegation zone and play Cagliari on Monday. Milan are two points behind Inter, but it could become five if they beat Napoli tonight.

Trading blows

Pietro Comuzzo scored from a corner in the 21st minute of the second half, with Gudmundsson’s delivery finding the centre-back between Strahinja Pavlovic and Davide Bartesaghi at the near post, to head the ball into the net.

Christopher Nkunku equalised with a fine right-footed shot that went in off the upright, thanks to his good movement in the box and Youssouf Fofana, who fed him a great through ball. La Viola twice came close to a last-gasp winner, with Marco Brescianini hitting the bar and Moise Kean having a shot blocked.

Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

Why did Milan drop points? Three reasons above all. First: Fiorentina are now a team: they may not be perfect, but they know how to play and have some quality. Second: Milan don’t create huge amounts of chances, and in the first half they missed multiple. Third: the Rossoneri were poor in the second half.

Allegri brought on the cavalry in the 60th minute. Rabiot, Leao and Bartesaghi replaced Jashari, Füllkrug and Estupinan, the worst player on the pitch by far in the eyes of the paper. Shortly after, Fofana and Nkunku also came on, and they combined for the equaliser.

As mentioned, Milan had four chances in eight minutes in the first half. Christian Pulisic – in incredibly uncharacteristic fashion – missed three. They were all set up by Füllkrug, whose hold-up play was impressive and should have led to multiple assists.