Milan–Verona has just ended. The match, valid for Matchday 17 of the 2025–2026 Serie A season, was played at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in San Siro, Milan. Let’s take a look at how the second 45 minutes unfolded between Massimiliano Allegri’s Rossoneri and Paolo Zanetti’s Gialloblù.
After the first half ended 1–0 to Milan thanks to Christian Pulisic’s goal in stoppage time, the second half opened with a double substitution for Verona. Forwards Giovane and Daniel Mosquera went off, replaced by Amin Sarr and Gift Orban. The early protagonist, however, was Christopher Nkunku.
Brought down by Victor Nelsson inside the Verona penalty area, Nkunku won a penalty, which he converted in the 48th minute by sending Lorenzo Montipò the wrong way for Milan’s immediate second goal. The Frenchman was on fire. In the 53rd minute, he completed his personal brace and scored Milan’s third, arriving at speed and forcing the ball into the net after it rebounded off the post following a powerful long-range left-footed strike from Luka Modrić.
Over the next ten minutes, Milan went close to scoring three more times. First with Adrien Rabiot, then with a header from Koni De Winter that Montipò tipped over the bar, and finally with a diagonal shot from Ruben Loftus-Cheek that went just wide. Verona made another change in the 65th minute, with Domagoj Bradarić replaced by Nicolás Valentini.
Nkunku effectively killed the game within the first five minutes of the second half. Allegri then made substitutions in the 71st minute, taking off Modrić and Loftus-Cheek and bringing on Ardon Jashari and Youssouf Fofana. More changes followed between the 75th and 76th minutes. Verona replaced Daniel Oyegoke with Suat Serdar, while Milan gave Alexis Saelemaekers and Pulisic a rest, introducing Zachary Athekame and Samuele Ricci.
The hard work was done. Milan managed their three-goal lead, focused on not conceding, as Allegri places great importance on clean sheets, while also looking for a fourth goal through quick attacking moves. In the 85th minute, Verona took off Ali Al-Musrati and brought on Abdou Harroui. A minute later, Allegri handed Serie A debut to David Odogu, replacing Fikayo Tomori, as pointed out by PianetaMilan.it.
In the 87th minute, Orban scored, but referee Michael Fabbri of the AIA Ravenna section disallowed the goal for a foul on an uninvolved Mike Maignan. In the three minutes of added time, little else happened apart from a Valentini shot that went wide.
Milan–Verona ended 3–0 at full time. A fine win, a pleasant Sunday afternoon, and a warm welcome, finally, for the Frenchman Nkunku...
