6 days ago
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AC Milan made it consecutive away wins on Friday night against Pisa, but they were forced to fight right until the final whistle.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s header in the first half looked like it had sent Milan on their way to a more comfortable night, but the game seemed to swing when substitute Niclas Füllkrug missed a penalty to make it 2-0.
From there the man that conceded the penalty – Felipe Loyola – naturally scored the equalising goal for the home side. Just as it looked like drifting towards another draw against the Nerazzurri, Luka Modric played a one-two with Samuele Ricci and netted the winner with five minutes left.
It may have been harder than hoped, however it is a very valuable three points for the Rossoneri ahead of a weekend in which Inter host Juventus and Napoli take on Roma.
It had been 10 days since Milan had last played, a 3-0 win in Bologna. Massimiliano Allegri made just one change from that starting line-up, with Fikayo Tomori coming in for Koni De Winter. Once again, three of the four forwards available were not at 100%, so Ruben Loftus-Cheek started up front.
In front of a packed Arena Garibaldi and with the flare smoke just about clearing, Milan started the game on top. They worked a couple of nice moves down the left side resulting in teasing crosses from Davide Bartesaghi and Christopher Nkunku, neither of which got the finish that they deserved.
The opening exchanges perhaps rather predictably consisted of Pisa sitting deep in their own half and inviting Milan to break them down. Chances were hard to come by though, with Adrien Rabiot heading an Athekame cross over in the 11th minute.
Pisa’s mission to frustrate Milan in the opening 30 minutes certainly worked as planned, with new coach Oscar Hiljemark looking pleased on the sidelines in his first home game. The Rossoneri were being forced into long balls that were far from accurate.
In fact, it was the home side that generated the first big chance just before the half-hour mark. A ball was slipped in behind the defence by Moreo to Stojilković, but Mike Maignan was quick off his line and managed to stop the shot.
Milan had a chance from a set-piece on the left side that Luka Modric clipped into a dangerous area, though Loftus-Cheek hooked a shot over the bar from close range after a bit of a ricochet near the far post. Really he should have done better, but he was adamant it was a corner.
Somewhat against the run of play, Milan got themselves in front just over six minutes before the break and it came from Loftus-Cheek. Just like in Bologna it was Athekame who loaded in a delightful cross from the right side, but this time the Englishman met it first time and headed inside the far post from a few yards out.
Allegri chose to make a change at the break, withdrawing Nkunku in place of Niclas Füllkrug. Given that the Frenchman had been lively at points, it was immediately uncertain if he might have picked up an injury, or if it was purely tactical.
Milan had the ball in the back of the net less than two minutes into the second half, and Füllkrug was immediately involved. He managed to flick a ball onto Rabiot from the edge of box who volleyed in, though the German was adjudged to have handballed it.
Just a few minutes after the disallowed goal though Milan would be given the chance to double their lead from the spot. It was a marauding run from Strahinja Pavlovic, who surged into the box and drew a trip from Loyola, with the referee pointing straight to the spot. Füllkrug was given the responsibility from the spot, but he couldn’t hit the target, instead striking the base of the post.
The missed penalty seemed to result in Pisa gaining in belief that they could get something out of the game, and a sort of aerial bombardment proceeded in which Milan were backed into the box as they failed to keep the ball and take the sting out of things.
In rather predictable circumstances, the man that gave away the penalty that should have ended the contest ended up scoring the equalising goal. A cut-back from the left side was not properly cut out by Pavlovic, allowing Loyola to pick up possession near the penalty spot and slot past Maignan to make it 1-1.
Changes followed from an understandably furious Allegri. Samuele Ricci and Rafael Leao were the ones who came on, replacing Fofana and Loftus-Cheek. A few minutes later, Athekame made way for Christian Pulisic.
With just under 10 minutes remaining, Füllkrug had another opportunity to get a second goal of the night for his side, volleying a Ricci cross towards goal but narrowly wide of the near post.
Finally, in the 85th minute, Pisa’s stern resistance was broken by the oldest man on the field: Luka Modric. The Croatian played a lovely pass into the feet of the stumbling Ricci inside the box, and as the Italian went to ground he was able to guide it into the path of Modric, who calmly lifted it over the goalkeeper.
There was one final bit of drama in added time at the end of the 90 minutes as Rabiot saw red. The midfielder clipped his opponent right on the edge of the Milan box and earned a yellow card, and thus a suspension for the Como game. However, he kept arguing with the referee and the linesman, earning a second booking and a red card.
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