2023 SIGNED OFF WITH A WIN

It began with a win, and it's now ended with a win. AC Milan bid farewell to 2023 on a high, having beaten Sassuolo to banish the ghosts of Salernitana. Christian Pulisic bagged the winner at San Siro - his seventh goal of the season, and sixth in the league. The Rossoneri always win when the USA international scores and the same was true tonight as he got the only goal in a 1-0 win. Pioli's Rossoneri played well; they may not have dominated but it was still decent overall. The Rossoneri had a couple of goals disallowed in the first half and took the lead after the break. One of the positives was a professional debut for Kevin Zeroli, who captains the Primavera.

After Serie A matchday 18, AC Milan have 36 points and remain in third place, having gained ground on Inter, Bologna and Napoli, who all dropped points, while we wait for the outcome of Juventus v Roma. And so, an intense year comes to a close, a year full of highs and lows, change and new additions. We've celebrated and we've suffered but, most of all, we've learnt. And we did it all with an extra man: our fans, who were brilliant again today. Now, we head into 2024 full of ambition and hunger. The Rossoneri are next in action on Tuesday 2 January, when they get their Coppa Italia campaign underway against Cagliari at San Siro - knockout football is back.

CHECK OUT THE GALLERY FROM AC MILAN v SASSUOLO

THE MATCH
It was all AC Milan in the opening exchanges: on 6', Loftus-Cheek picked up the ball, but his shot was blocked by Erlić; a minute later and Bennacer had the ball in the back of the net, from Giroud’s assist, but it was ruled out due to Oli being in an offside position on receiving the ball following the keeper’s save. Then, Reijnders burst forward before dragging his shot wide from the egde of the box. The game remained rather laboured, as Bennacer tried to spark things up after 23 minutes with a left-footed effort that went just wide, hitting the sidenetting, before feeding Leão on 25 minutes, who couldn’t beat Consigli. After a wild Loftus-Cheek shot flew off target, a second goal was chalked off just after the half-hour mark: this time, it was Leão who sent the ball into the top corner, but in an offside position, following Florenzi’s through ball. Sassuolo worked hard to get into the game, with Berardi, who had been quiet up to that point, forcing Maignan into a superb diving save after his left-footed strike looked to be curling in under the crossbar after 33 minutes. Pulisic, Berardi, and a Florenzi free-kick, all failed to trouble the respective opposition goalkeepers and the sides went into the break at 0-0.

The Neroverdi came out much livlier after the break, with Maignan reading Toljan’s break away, sweeping up well. The biggest chance of the game fell to Reijnders on 53 minutes, but he failed to connect cleanly when free in the box; following the move, Florenzi flashed over on the half-volley. After Laurienté’s effort, the Rossoneri finally broke the deadlock in the 59th minute: Bennacer sliding a ball through the Sassuolo defence to Pulisic, who timed his run to perfection and tucked the ball home past an onrushing Consigli. The first changes were made, with Adli and Jović entering the fray, before the visitors responded to going a goal behind. In the 69th minute, Volpato shot over, before Maignan kept out Laurienté’s fiercly-struck low drive. In the closing stages, the Diavolo looked to see out the game with some quick, attacking bursts forward: on 78', Florenzi’s right-footed effort again failed to hit the target; Leão's shot was then blocked, before Chukwueze – a substitute along with young duo Simić and Zeroli – opened up his body too much and saw his shot go just wide to nearly double the lead. No further scares came in injury-time: it ended 1-0 at San Siro.

MATCH DETAILS

AC MILAN 1-0 SASSUOLO

AC MILAN (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Kjær (82' Simić), Hernández, Florenzi; Loftus-Cheek (74' Zeroli), Bennacer (63' Adli), Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud (63' Jović), Leão (81' Chukwueze). Subs: Mirante, Nava; Bartesaghi, Jiménez, Nsiala; Krunić, Romero; Traorè. Coach: Pioli.

SASSUOLO (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Erlić (46' Tressoldi), Ferrari, Pedersen; Thorstvedt (89' Ceide), Henrique; Berardi (70' Castillejo), Bajrami (65' Volpato), Laurienté (89' Mulattieri); Pinamonti. Subs: Cragno, Pegolo; Missori, Viti; Lipani; Álvarez. Coach: Dionisi.

Referee: Martinelli from Tivoli.
Goals: 59' Pulisic (M).
Booked: 88' Castillejo (S).

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