Before Tammy Abraham’s tap-in, Rafael Leao gave Milan two goals, but Cagliari’s Gabriele Zappa saved the day in a thrilling 3-3 tie.
Within 70 seconds, Cagliari broke the tie when Sebastiano Luperto flicked on a Nicolas Viola corner, which allowed Nadir Zortea, who was unmarked at the back post, to drill through a sea of legs from a tight angle into the far bottom corner.
Milan equalized with a just amazing goal, as Rafael Leao’s shot went just over Cagliari goalkeeper. Rafael Leao beat the charging Sherri with a clever lob after Tijjani Reijnders picked the ball up over the defense with his right boot.
Roberto Piccoli had the ball in the net with yet another amazing move over the goalie, but he was just offside, and Luperto’s header on another corner went straight to Mike Maignan.
After Tommaso Augello’s cross, Maignan headed a risky Zortea header out of the air at the back stick, but Milan had changed the score less than a minute later. Rafael Leao ran just past the center circle after Youssouf Fofana’s through pass, then dribbled past Sherri to sweep into the empty net.
Moments later, Piccoli attempted to tie the score by fending off Malick Thiaw, but Maignan hurried off his line to block, making the collision unavoidable. Additionally, Zito Luvumbo’s header skimmed the teammate’s head as it flashed across the goal’s face.
Gabriele Zappa’s volley at the back post of Augello’s cross had given Cagliari a 2-2 lead just before halftime, but Viola slid in and made the final touch before it crossed the line, putting him offside.
Soon after the restart, Zortea saw Theo Hernandez charge down another fierce volley, and Samu Chukwueze scuffed the finish poorly from 12 yards following a Camarda pull-back.
A gift from Fofana, who was unaware that his defensive flick was actually sending the winger clean on goal to beat Maignan one-on-one, allowed Zappa to finally score. It was just his second Serie A goal in his career.
Sherri stopped Camarda’s header, but the forward also had to play defense by clearing Piccoli’s effort from a Cagliari corner almost goal-line.
Tammy Abraham, a substitute for Milan, was poised to meet the rebound when Sherri stooped to make a one-handed stop on Pulisic’s angled effort, giving Milan the lead again.
Even though Zappa had only scored one goal in Serie A prior to this evening, he finished off his brace with a spectacular right-foot volley into the top corner after Augello had crossed the ball. At the back post, he was once more essentially unmarked despite his outstanding play.
Gianluca Lapadula’s half-volley from the area’s edge was just over, but Noah Okafor’s header was too feeble to test Sherri, and Cagliari weren’t content.
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