Milan conquers the “Pier Luigi Penzo” stadium in Venice in the lunch match of the 34th round of Serie A: Pulisic scores after five minutes and Gimenez nets in injury time.
Venezia-Milan, First Half
Conceiçao makes only one change compared to the match against Inter on Wednesday: during the warm-up, Jovic suffers a back issue and sits on the bench, replaced by Abraham. Di Francesco plays with a 3-5-2 formation, with Yeboah and Fila up front. Milan starts strong, and within less than five minutes, they are already ahead: a mistake in the build-up from Candé, who passes to Jimenez; the Spanish player lays it off for Fofana, who spots Christian Pulisic's run, and Pulisic calmly finishes past Radu. Venezia tries to respond with a shot from Nicolussi Caviglia, but it's too high. After a chance for Milan – where Abraham narrowly misses Hernandez's cross – Venezia has two excellent opportunities to equalize: first, Zerbin shoots just wide off Yeboah's assist, then Yeboah himself tries, sending it just off target, as relayed via MilanPress.it.
After the 30th minute, the home team gets close again: Pavlovic fouls Yeboah, and Nicolussi Caviglia takes the free-kick, hitting the post, just missing the target. In the 34th minute, Venezia would have equalized through Yeboah, but the VAR cancels the goal for an offside on Busio at the start of the play. With a free-kick from Nicolussi Caviglia punched away by Maignan in the second and final minute of injury time, the first half ends with Milan leading, thanks to Pulisic's goal, while Venezia remains fully in the game.
Venezia-Milan, Second Half
No changes at halftime, and it's Venezia who start better in the second half: in the 49th minute, Nicolussi Caviglia shoots on the volley, sending the ball just wide. The second half unfolds similarly to the first: Venezia is aggressive and always dangerous, especially through Yeboah, a constant thorn in Milan's side. In the 60th minute, a flurry of substitutions: Conceiçao brings on Gimenez for Abraham, while Di Francesco makes three changes, one per role, sending Mercandalli, Perez, and Gytkjaer into the match, followed shortly after by Oristanio for Conde. With 20 minutes to go, Conceiçao strengthens the defense: Walker and Loftus-Cheek replace Jimenez and Leao. In total, seven changes in as many minutes, which inevitably slows the rhythm of the match. It's the English midfielder Loftus-Cheek who has the chance to seal the game: in the 75th minute, he takes a personal run, reaching the edge of the area and, instead of passing to the completely free Pulisic, decides to shoot poorly. Milan tries to secure the one-goal lead, and two minutes before the 90th, Conceiçao makes fresh substitutions, bringing on Terracciano and Joao Felix for Fofana and Pulisic. In the five minutes of added time, Venezia throws everything forward in search of an equalizer, and during the last corner kick, Milan counters: a precise long pass from Reijnders to Santiago Gimenez, who lobs Radu with a delightful chip and scores the 2-0 that ends the match with a win for the Rossoneri.
