Milan secured another win as the league is progressing and they are sitting at the top of the table as of now. Goals from Pulisic and Okafor sealed the game. However Rafael Leao showed great football as he bagged two assists.
FULL TIME. MILAN WIN 2-0.
90 + 4′ A GOAL IS SCORED BY LAZIO, BUT IT WON’T COUNT! In the buildup to the goal, Pedro moves the ball from his left to his right foot before finishing it off with a beautiful curl into the top corner. However, the offside flag is belatedly raised because Immobile was unable to maintain his position in the buildup.
90′ Marusic sends a cross into the penalty area from the right wing, but Maignan makes a diving catch on the edge of his six-yard box. This prevents Immobile from having any chance of scoring on the rebound.
88′ GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! OKAFOR!!!!!! Another fantastic example of build-up play from Leao, who takes on Casale and defeats him for power and quickness, hitting the byline before pulling off a lovely pass back for Okafor. This move is a stunning example of the build-up play that Leao is capable of. As a result of Provedel’s poor positioning, the striker, who now has two goals in as many matches, only needs to touch the ball to score.
87′ Isaksen attempts to make a decisive play with a curling strike from 18 yards out, but his shot goes high and wide rather than putting any pressure on Maignan.
84′ Isaksen is greeted to the competition by Hernandez, who delivers a ferocious challenge that knocks the winger to the ground in a heap. The fullback for Milan receives a caution for his play.
77′ Chance! It appears to be a similar move to the earlier goal, with Hernandez gaining space along the left side of the field before dragging the it back to Pulisic. However, Provedel does not grant the United States of America their international this moment.
73′ Pulisic takes a risky inswinging corner and delivers it towards the outside of the penalty box, but Tomori directs his free header straight into Provedel’s chest.
72′ GREAT SAVE FROM PROVEDEL! After a little of head-to-head competition within the penalty area, Musah is given the opportunity to hit a strong half-volley towards the goal, but the goalkeeper is able to paw it away by diving to his left.
65′ Now it’s Leao who gets a yellow card for bringing down Alberto to halt a possible counter-attack on the edge of Lazio’s penalty area after the winger’s first touch let him down.
64′ After stepping into Musah and bringing him down with a shoulder barge to the neck, Romagnoli is cautioned and given a yellow card for his actions.
60′ GOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! PULISIC!!!!!!!! The deadlock is broken by the american. At the stroke of sixty minutes, the home team takes the lead as Leao breaks free down the left flank and then pulls a bouncing pass back to the penalty spot for Pulisic to score. The winger gets a hold of it and hits a half-volley that is inch perfect, which is good enough to beat Provedel. Milan lead 1-0.
56′ Kjaer wins the corner kick that Adli takes from the right, but it is cleared by Marusic. Then, Pulisic sends the ball back into the penalty area, but it bounces behind for a goal kick.
55′ Reijnders is able to keep the ball and dribble away from three Lazio defenders, but he loses his footing at the most inopportune moment and hands possession of the ball to Guendouzi just before the penalty area.
51′ Marusic was shown the first yellow card of the match for kicking Hernandez in the shins rather than attempting to win possession of the ball. This act resulted in the referee awarding Marusic the first caution of the match.
50′ Lazio are awarded a free kick deep within their own half after Adli reaches the ball a split second too late and brings Rovella to the ground, so giving Lazio the opportunity to clear their lines. Even though he has just committed his fifth foul of the match, the Milan midfielder has not been sent out for a caution yet.
48′ Kjaer takes a big step into Lazio territory in an effort to gain an aerial advantage over Castellanos and win possession of the ball, but the center back makes contact that is a little too rough with his opponent and Lazio is penalized with a free-kick.
44′ WHAT A CHANCE!!! Musah brings a beautiful pass back to the penalty spot for Giroud, but Provedel is able to save his first attempt despite the fact that it was not particularly impressive. The goalie allows Reijnders the opportunity to attack the rebound, but the midfielder’s backheeled effort from two yards away hits the post and goes wide.
42′ In the middle of the field, Hernandez inadvertently passes the ball to Alberto, but Tomori valiantly blocks Zaccagni’s shot after it has been set up by cutting inside.
39′ Rovella makes a simple header away from an inswinging corner that Adli sends to the near post, which paves the way for Lazio to advance on the counterattack. Pulisic demonstrates his hard work and determination by running back to assist Calabria before regaining possession of the ball for Milan in a potentially dangerous location.
34′ During a goal kick taken by Lazio, Adli moves into position in front of the goal and snatches the ball away from Guendouzi. He then passes the ball on to Leao. The winger makes an effort to hold off two defenders, but he eventually goes down, without requesting a penalty.
33′ After cutting in from the right side, Pulisic finds Leao, who then races toward the goal in front of Marusic and fires a powerful left-footed shot that compels Provedel to make a diving save near the post.
29′ In the opening half an hour of the match, Milan forced to make a substitution in the middle of the field, but it is Loftus-Cheek who is the one to slowly make his way off the field after presumably picking up a knock. Musah will now take his spot on the team.
28′ Alberto makes a beautiful pass into the penalty area for the run of Castellanos, but Tomori is aware of the threat and utilizes his power to hold off the attacker, allowing Maignan to grab the ball.
27′ Anderson is given permission to turn in the middle of the field, but instead of finding a teammate who is open, he hits a wildly errant shot from 30 yards away. Although Maignan is compelled to run over his line, his shot is not successful in hitting the objective.
25′ Adli makes a diving attempt at a tackle and prevails, gaining possession of the ball before Guendouzi, who is then struck in the foot by his opponent. The players on both teams are trying to get the referee to issue a free kick, but after a little time it seems as though Lazio has been given the opportunity to take the drop ball.
23′ The center third of the field has been the focus of the majority of the action up to this point in the first session, with Maignan and Provedel only having to deal with one shot on target between them. Due to the restricted number of scoring opportunities inside the opponent’s 18-yard box, both teams will need to be at their clinical best if they want to walk away with all three points.
21′ Giroud once again loses up possession while Milan is building up their play, and the striker is unable to reach Loftus-Cheek following a potentially fruitful exchange of passes. Lazio will seek to rapidly transition from defense into attack and hit on the counter, as the opportunities presented by the hosts will be plentiful.
17′ Loftus-Cheek makes a timely sliding challenge to win the ball back for Milan, which immediately puts them on the attack. However, Giroud, with his back to goal, is unable to complete the pass and fouls Guendouzi, ending the move.
15′ A swift free kick from Alberto finds Castellanos down the wing, but Zaccagni’s curling effort from the left side is easily caught by Maignan.
14′ Pulisic sends a cross to the far post in an attempt to find Leao, but Marusic brilliantly timing his jump to win the ball in front of the Portugal international and get rid of the threat.
13′ CHANCE! Anderson is able to surge into the Milan penalty area and lash a shot from a tight angle, but he is only able to put his effort into the side netting because of Kjaer’s poor pass in the middle of the field, which delivers the ball right to Anderson.
11′ Kjaer finds the run of Hernandez high on the left wing with a fantastic pass over the top of the defense; however, Casale runs across and swipes the ball from the toe of the full-back.
9′ Castellanos and Andereson work the ball up the field well, getting past Hernandez and Tomori on their approach into the penalty area. However, Loftus-Cheek uses his power to shield Alberto from getting to the final pass, allowing Maignan to claim it.
6′ Zaccagni takes on Calabria and wins, despite the fact that he initially lost his footing and had to get back up. He then found the overlapping run of Alberto, whose cross was deflected for a corner kick.
2′ The Lazio midfielder Alberto is knocked to the ground and in some discomfort when Adli catches the back of his heel with his studs. The offended party is left feeling dissatisfied as the referee fails to generate a card and instead awards the visitors a free kick.
FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE ON TWITTER
READ MORE;
Lecce 0-4 Napoli : Champions win the battle comfortably