Leao saves a pyrrhic Milan

A goal from Leao in the 8th minute was enough for pyrrhic Milan to defeat Hellas Verona at the San Siro in a match that was unstoppable from start to finish. Pioli’s team is back on the path to victory in Serie A but it has been shown that the wound from the Madonnina derby last weekend (5-1) will continue to worsen and will take time to heal.

The match started 25 minutes late as it was well received in Milan before the match and the referee, Fabio Maresca, came out to inspect the pitch with captains Leao and Faraoni. After ensuring that he was fit to play after checking the bounce of the ball in different areas of the field, he gave the order to start the match a few minutes late.

Milan go into the game with the humiliation that Inter inflicted on them in the Madonnina derby at the weekend (5-1), a debacle that seems to have dented the confidence of Pioli’s men. Hellas started to bite and take the weight of the match and that was the reason for Milan’s rebuke from the San Siro.

That warning spurred on Milan, who opened the scoring on their first visit. Giroud took advantage of a steal in midfield to put Leao in orbit, who made no mistake in his one-on-one with Montipo (8′). From then on, Milan again came up short against an ineffective Hellas Verona in attack who only threatened Sportiello with a header from Folorunsho.

In the ranks of Milan, not distinguished from a starting eleven with many rotations, there is no news about Pulisic, Musha and company. The game was a snooze that was hard to bear and the passage to the locker room was so long because the script hadn’t changed one bit: Pioli’s side rested against a Hellas Verona incapable of generating scoring chances.

Hellas Verona set their boats on fire in search of chances in the second half but were never able to trouble Sportiello. Milan maintained a grueling pace and pressed the accelerator just a little on Jovic’s counterattacks. The best came at the end, when the referee concluded a gray match, without rhythm and almost without any football in which a very poor Milan relied on Leao to take three important points.