The AC Milan team failed to take advantage of Inter's slight slip and instead left the Olimpico defeated: Lazio won 1-0 thanks to Gustav Isaksen's goal in the first half.
How was the first half of the Lazio-Milan match?
Massimiliano Allegri makes just one change, a forced one, compared to the starting eleven that beat Inter last week: Jashari wins the selection battle with Ricci to replace the suspended Rabiot. Confirmation for derby hero Estupinan and for the attacking pair Leao-Pulisic. Sarri, facing an emergency in midfield, chooses Patric in the unusual role of playmaker, confirming former Milan player Daniel Maldini as the centre-forward.
Lazio start with their foot on the accelerator, breaking through mainly on the left: first a cross from Dele-Bashiru is punched away by Maignan diving forward, then Isaksen sends a ball into the middle, but the Rossoneri defense clears it. The first chance for Milan, however, is extremely dangerous: Pavlovic receives the ball in the box, sharply beats Gila and shoots with certainty, but Provstgaard throws himself in to protect Motta.
After a sprinting start, the pace of the match drops, but halfway through the half Milan come close to taking the lead again: Saelemaekers crosses from the right, Estupinan times his run perfectly, gets in front of Isaksen and, with a diving header, narrowly misses the post to Motta's left. On the counterattack, Maldini holds up the ball and serves Taylor, who from a wide position unleashes a powerful left-footed shot that crashes against the crossbar.
In the 26th minute Lazio take the lead: from a long pass from the back, Estupinan lets Isaksen slip behind him, and the latter makes no mistake in front of Maignan. Milan try to react by pushing their defensive line higher, but Lazio remain dangerous on the counterattack: Maldini is sent through on goal, engages in a physical duel with De Winter, but arrives tired in front of Maignan and his right-footed side-footed shot is easily gathered by the Rossoneri goalkeeper. After one minute of added time, the teams go to the break with Lazio in front.
The first half ended with Lazio leading while Allegri's team tried to break down Sarri's complicated defensive system. For the Rossoneri fans, it was a night to forget. However, if you want to make educated decisions regarding Serie A results, you can obtain free football tips in order to bet responsibly and perhaps even win great prizes.
Lazio-Milan, how ws the second half?
Despite a first half that was far from memorable for his team, Allegri makes no changes at halftime, just as Sarri (much more understandably) also does not. The Rossoneri, though, start the second half better, creating two important chances within a minute: first Pulisic aims for the far post, but Motta stretches out and parries, then in the continuation of the play a mishit shot by the American turns into an assist for Fofana, whose header fails to find the corner.
In the 57th minute came Allegri's first substitutions: Tomori and an Estupinan in great difficulty, who had just been booked, come off, while Athekame and Bartesaghi come on. Milan switch to a 4-3-3, with Saelemaekers and Pulisic on either side of Leao playing as a centre-forward, as pointed out via Milan Press. The Rossoneri try twice with Leao, but he is first closed down by Gila and then by Motta, before Pulisic fires a right-footed shot far over the bar from the edge of the box.
In the 66th minute Allegri goes all in: Fofana and a clearly unhappy Leao go off, replaced by Nkunku and Fullkrug, with Milan shifting to an ultra-offensive 4-2-3-1. Around the 75th minute Milan appear to equalize with a fine turning shot by Athekame from a corner situation, but the goal is ruled out for a completely unintentional handball by the Swiss fullback, which nevertheless occurs immediately before the goal.
AC Milan lay siege to Lazio's penalty area, collecting corner kicks one after another and creating major concern for the home defense. After the fifth or sixth consecutive corner, the ball reaches Modric on the edge of the box: hindered by the referee, the Croatian fails to hit the target with his right foot.
With five minutes left, Milan complete their substitutions as Samuele Ricci comes on for Alexis Saelemaekers.
The referee adds seven minutes of stoppage time, and in the fifth of them Jashari tries his luck with a left-footed shot from medium distance that goes just wide. It ends this way at the Olimpico, with the Biancocelesti's victory leaving AC Milan eight points behind Inter and Napoli only one point behind Massimiliano Allegri's Rossoneri.
