Milan fought back from a two-goal deficit twice to hold relegation-fighting Sassuolo to a 3-3 draw at the Mapei Stadium. Despite avoiding defeat, Stefano Pioli’s men have effectively ended their faint Scudetto hopes.
It was the worst possible start for Milan as goals from Andrea Pinamonti and Armand Lauriente gave Sassuolo a two-goal lead ten minutes into the game. Rafael Leao’s strike midway through the first half cut the deficit in half.
However, Sassuolo restored a two-goal cushion at the start of the second half. Lauriente took advantage of Yacine Adli’s poor giveaway to put daylight between the sides again. Milan pulled one back through Luka Jovic before Noah Okafor scored off the bench to draw the visitors level.
Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze had two goals disallowed as Rossoneri surrendered a five-game winning streak in Serie A in one of the most exciting games of 2023/24. Let’s look at our player ratings.
Milan (4-2-3-1)
Marco Sportiello – 4
Mike Maignan’s injury gave the Italian a rare chance to start, but he would wish the Frenchman was between the sticks today.
Alessandro Florenzi – 3.5
His woeful defending propelled Sassuolo to an early two-goal lead. After losing track of Pinamonti, he let Lauriente breeze past him almost effortlessly.
Simon Kjaer – 4.5
You’d expect a player of his caliber and experience to do better, but his positioning let him down this afternoon as his lack of pace came to the fore.
Malick Thiaw – 6
Kjaer’s underwhelming display forced the youngster to go above and beyond against Sassuolo’s inspired frontline, and he was often up to the task.
Theo Hernandez – 7
Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet in the first half, the star left-back was a thorn in Sassuolo’s side the whole game, completing numerous trademark runs down the left and coming close to scoring twice.
Yacine Adli – 5
Often too slow to move the ball off his feet, the Frenchman paid the ultimate price for his flagrant attitude when his turnover inside Milan’s half led to Sassuolo’s third goal.
Yunus Musah – 5.5
Back to the starting XI, the USMNT midfielder proved Pioli right for benching him in favor of Ismael Bennacer in the second half of the season. No impact on the game whatsoever!
Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 5.5
After a disappointing performance against Roma, the Englishman stuttered again. Pioli could’ve subbed him off sooner.
Samuel Chukwueze – 7.5
The Nigerian’s rise to prominence was on full display today as he saw two of his goals on either side of halftime disallowed for offside. It’s bizarre what VAR found irregular in the second half.
Rafael Leao – 7.5
In addition to extending his scoring run in Serie A to three consecutive games, the quicksilver Milan forward was superb on the left wing, easing past his markers time and time again.
Luka Jovic – 7
It took him one decent chance to score. More importantly, his body language and overall performance were reminiscent of his glory days at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Substitutes
Matteo Gabbia – 6.5
Olivier Giroud – 5
Tijjani Reijnders – 6.5
Christian Pulisic – 6.5
Noah Okafor – 7
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