Sassuolo 3-3 AC Milan: Five things we learned – attacking players salvage defensive mess | OneFootball

After losing 1-0 to Roma on Thursday night in the Europa League to end a seven-game winning run, AC Milan’s five-game streak of victories in Serie A also came to an end in Sunday’s 3-3 draw against Sassuolo.

It was a nightmare start for Milan as the home side rocked them with two early blows. Andrea Pinamonti opened the scoring and Armand Lauriente doubled the advantage for Sassuolo, but Rafael Leao’s solo run got the Rossoneri back into it.

Lauriente restored the two-goal lead early in the second half to give Milan a big hill to climb, though goals from Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor secured a point and there were even chances to claim another dramatic away comeback win.

The result means that the gap to Juventus in third place remains six points, though Inter can clinch the Scudetto next week with a win in the derby. Ivan has picked out five key talking points from the game.

1. Making himself undroppable

Having been the marquee signing of the 2023 summer transfer window, Samuel Chukwueze has finally found some continuity and started the game against Sassuolo with Pioli opting to give Pulisic some time off.

The winger had a rather mixed game in terms of fortunes, given that he had the ball in the net twice and both times VAR intervened to call them offside, though the stills from the technology suggested there was very little in both calls.

Regardless of the offsides, Chukwueze was a constant threat down that right flank and continues to cause a selection headache for Stefano Pioli. It might be more of a bold decision if the Nigerian was to not start against Roma versus of he did.

2. All at sea

There’s very little to say about the performance at the back by Simon Kjaer and Malick Thiaw that hasn’t already been said, because the duo totally floundered in the first half.

The Dane has had limited playing time and given his injuries and age we could say that such a performance isn’t unexpected, but Thiaw really should’ve done better given that he is meant to be a pillar of the defence for the long term.

It is perhaps no surprise that we keep reading reports stating that a new centre-back will arrive in the summer, because Milan have conceded 37 goals in 32 games and 29 of them have come away from home, which is by far the most of any top half side.

3. The response of a leader

We keep mentioning the Europe League first leg against Roma, but that’s because it is a crucial tie to try and salvage the season and end up with silverware.

Rafael Leão was a player who really struggled against the Giallorossi creating pretty much nothing and suffering from the double team, but he reacted well against Sassuolo.

The Portuguese winger scored a wonderful goal out of nothing when his team needed it to get back into the game and then continued to create down the flank, providing the outside of the boot cross that resulted in Luka Jovic’s goal to make it 3-2.

It was a positive reaction by Leao and although against Roma it will be much more difficult compared to Sassuolo, the former Lille man once again showed that he remains capable of lighting a spark.

4. Midfield trio disappoint

Although the back line was rather disastrous it’s fair to put some of the blame on that midfield trio that simply had to control the game and limit the spaces that the Sassuolo players can exploit.

Unfortunately Yacine Adli and Yunus Musah weren’t really up for it and especially in the first 20 or so minutes given the huge gaps that opened up between the rearguard and the double pivot.

After that the Frenchman improved a bit and provided some good passes to salvage his performance somewhat, but it was an underwhelming performance by the duo who must improve to show they can start in bigger games.

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Then there was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who played in his more advanced role, but ultimately failed to really be efficient in either phase of the game.

The Englishman has struggled as of late after having a period where he was scoring almost every game and given his drop in form it would make sense to see Pulisic replace him in the Europa League which also opens up the right flank for Chukwueze to start.

5. Reserves impress again

Luka Jovic started the game and he wasn’t regularly involved in the first half, but he seemed a bit more determined in the second half.

Giroud’s introduction opened space and gave him someone to play off, and after scoring his goal in the 59th minute the Serbian was involved a lot more in the game, dropping deeper and carrying the ball forward also like a false nine.

Noah Okafor also had an impact off the bench with the Swiss forward continuing his trend of bagging important goals off the bench and bringing the score level to secure at least a point for his team.

Matteo Gabbia – to whom the ‘reserve’ tag perhaps no longer applies – brought a bit of composure at the back, stabilising the defence and cementing his place for Thursday and the derby in a week. He also had a hand in Okafor’s goal, bringing the ball down.