The ‘scudetto’ tinged the ‘azzurro’ of the Naples shirt a bit more today after Milan could only win 2-2 against Samuel Umtiti’s Lecce at the Via del Mare and are 9 points behind the leaders, who on Friday were he provided a coup d’état with his win against Juventus (5-1).
Milan is second, with a point against Juve, but it is no consolation for the Serie A champion who closed a bad week after being drawn at the end of the previous day against Roma (2-2) and falling on Wednesday in the Coppa against Torino at San Siro (0-1).
Lecce beat Milan
Promoted Lecce starred in a massive start to the game. Superior in all aspects of the game, it took almost three minutes to exploit the holes in Milan’s defense by opening the scoring with an own goal from Theo Hernández.
The game started with Pierre Kalulu losing the ball which Federico Di Francesco took advantage of to get down the left and his cross was pushed into the net by Theo Hernández in a fight with Alexis Blin.
A defense that produces water
Gabriel Strefezza and Di Francesco wreaked havoc on an overstretched Milan defense and the second of them made it 2-0 a minute later by crossing just wide after only receiving a cross from Valentin Gendrey.
Milan, lacking energy, barely managed to create a clear scoring chance with a shot from point-blank range by Tommaso Pobega saved by goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone (10′).
The Leece. With more attitude and a vertical game, he continued to create danger with every attack and made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute after a short corner kick ended in a goal when centre-back Federico Baschirotto headed in a cross from Morten Hjulmand.
the champion rises
Lecce still had a chance for the third goal from Di Francesco’s delivery which Gendrey widened a meter from the goal (25′). Milan were on the ropes but from then on they showed a timid reaction that only resulted in one chance from Olivier Giroud shortly before the break with a shot off Falcone’s shoulder (43′).
Stefano Pioli left Theo Hernández and Alexis Saelemaekers in the booth to give Sergiño Dest and Junior Messias an entry. Milan activated in the second half and closed the gap in the 58th minute through Rafael Leao. After Falcone denied a shot by Giroud, the Portuguese scored at the near post with a quality touch.
tie of Calabria
Milan, without dazzling, found Leao and Giroud more and leveled the score in the 70th minute through Davide Calabria heading in an assist also off Giroud’s head.
There is still time left to complete the comeback but Lecce know how to suffer, were strong in defense with Umtiti and ended up adding a point that keeps them in mid-table with a remarkable six-game winning streak without losing.
LECCE
22
MILAN
Lecce: Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Umtiti, Giuseppe Pezzella (Gallo, 62′); Blin, Hjulmand, Joan Gonzàlez (Maleh, 62′); Strefezza (Oudin, 89′), Colombo (Persson, 72′), Di Francesco (Band, 72′)
Milan: Tatarusanu; Calabria (Kjaer, 86′), Kalulu, Tomori, Theo Hernández (Dest, 46′); Bennacer, Pobega (Vranckx, 86′); Saelemaekers (Junior Messias, 46′), Brahim Díaz (Origi, 69′), Rafael Leão; Giroud
Goals: 1-0 Theo Hernández (pp) (3′), 2-0 Baschirotto (23′), 2-1 Rafael Leão (58′), 2-2 Calabria (70′)
Referee: Daniele Orsato. Yellow cards to Maleh (64′), Calabria (67′), Bennacer (86′)
Spectators: 25,943 at Via del Mare
see the match sheet
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
