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AC Milan did what they had to do on Sunday night in front of their own fans, beating Lecce to keep the pressure up on Inter.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write, Milan continue to be the only team keeping pace with Inter. Napoli, Juventus and Roma are not a million miles behind but each have had recent wobbles, while the Rossoneri are now on 46 points.
Last night against Lecce, Milan were kept at bay for large parts of the game barring a couple of excellent saves from Falcone. Yet, the introduction of the one true striker in the squad proved to be decisive.
Lecce’s plan
For a while, Di Francesco had neutralized all of Allegri’s weapons. It’s well known that Milan use wide spaces for counter-attacks, while things get complicated when faced with well-positioned defenses. Lecce went further, with a tactical system that almost embodies the ‘liquidity’ of football.
No one will ever be able to say for sure how it was deployed, but this organised chaos works, and how. Four defenders build up, but then Pierotti falls back to the right following Estupiñan’s lead, creating a highly mobile five-man line.
Pierotti is the key to the plan, something akin to Conte’s Politano as a wing-back. In the middle, Gandelman, Ramadani and Coulibaly constantly move toward their North Star: the man-marking of Milan’s three midfielders.
In this complicated interplay, Gandelman also has to partner Stulic in the ‘attacking’ phase. It is in inverted commas because Lecce didn’t get forward much and instead were quite happy to keep things in the middle of the field.
Milan helped their visitors by being slow and predictable, as they sometimes are. There was little impetus from the back three, except for set pieces. The midfielders didn’t really take many rissks, while Pervis Estupinan was imprecise again.
Rafael Leao was unable to find his feet in the middle, constantly torn between providing defensive work and trying to dribble. Christian Pulisic often solves the problem by occupying the spaces that Leao creates, but not on this occasion.
The American was anonymous and inaccurate in front of goal, and Milan suffered for it. The paradox is that, even with a draw, they would have gone twenty straight without defeat, a streak last achieved in 1993 with Capello on the bench.
The game changes
Di Francesco’s plan suddenly imploded. From three unexciting shots in the first half, Milan’s start to the second half is overwhelming: Falcone saves from Ricci and Pulisic again, Gallo blocks Saelemaekers, and Estupiñan in the six-yard box looks for an assist instead of shooting.
It was a quarter of an hour that had everyone saying that the goal is about to arrive. Instead, another quarter of an hour is needed to demolish the totem pole of points dropped against smaller teams. Fullkrug came on for Pulisic, and it would prove to be decisive.
The German did not exactly create havoc, but he was there to be a focal point for the service. Allegri unbalanced the 3-5-2 by playing a No.9 rather than two second strikers who spread out without ever threatening the defenders.
With Füllkrug taking centre-stage, Leao rediscovers his beloved left flank, Rabiot and Ricci have wider avenues for forays, Jashari grows, and Saelemaekers never gives up. He chases a ball down the right, catches it on the fly just before it crosses the byline, and fires in a perfect cross for Füllkrug.
It was a lesson for Lecce, who suffer a fourth straight defeat and didn’t have a shot on target. Above all it was a triumph for Allegri: one goal, three points, and let the others say what they want.
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