AC Milan’s five-game winning streak in Serie A was ended by Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon, but they fought back from two different two-goal deficits to snatch a 3-3 draw.
It was a nightmare start for Milan who were all at sea defensively, with Andrea Pinamonti opening the scoring and Armand Lauriente doubling the advantage for the home side, but Rafael Leao’s solo run put the Rossoneri back in the lead.
Lauriente restored the two-goal lead early in the second half to give Milan a mountain to climb, although goals from Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor secured a point that still tastes a little bitter.
The result means the gap to Juventus in third place remains six points, although Inter can clinch the Scudetto next week with a derby win.
Stefano Pioli made seven changes to the side that lost to Roma on Thursday night as Marco Sportiello, Simon Kjaer, Alessandro Florenzi, Yunus Musah, Yacine Adli, Samuel Chukwueze and Luka Jovic all started.
Milan had the first half chance after getting off to a good start. They forced two corners and the second saw a shot reach Florenzi on the other side whose volley went wide of the near post.
We picked Pinamonti as Sassuolo’s danger man before the match, and he gave Sassuolo the lead less than five minutes later. Volpato beat Malick Thiaw to the line with a smart spin and brought the ball back to the centre-forward, who struck a first goal. -time fell gently in the lower corner.
Sassuolo scored with their first attack and were close to doing the same with their second. A horrible touch from Kjaer allowed Lauriente to break down the left and he shifted the ball to his favored foot but hit the shot into the side netting.
From the 10th minute, the locals doubled the lead and this time Lauriente took advantage of the space he had on the left. The winger was put through on goal by a ball inside from the backing Florenzi, and although his first shot was saved by Sportiello, he quickly scored off the rebound.
A period of dominance ensued from Milan and they were inches away from halving the deficit when Kjaer’s header from a cross was then pushed away by Thiaw but miraculously saved by Consigli.
Milan thought they were back in the game when a cross from the left side was headed across goal and into the far corner by Chukwueze, although the offside flag was raised and although the call was marginal, he was offside.
In the 20th minute, the score became 2-1 and it was thanks to a brilliant moment from Leao. The Portuguese winger was found in space on the left and ran towards Tressoldi and Boloca, slaloming between the two of them then finishing with a low, precise right-footed shot.
Milan had a couple of big chances to tie the game before the break and both fell to Theo. The first was a stinging shot from a free-kick which was parried but the follow-up effort was well saved, then a solo run from the Frenchman saw him burst into the box and fire into the side netting from an angle narrow. .
Sassuolo restored their two-goal lead eight minutes into the second half and it was a calamity at the back for Milan. A poor pass to Adli saw him lose possession and Defrel managed to get the ball back into a dangerous area, with Lauriente setting up and shooting into the top corner via a touch from Sportiello.
Pioli decided to make several changes in response, with Olivier Giroud, Tijjani Reijnders and Matteo Gabbia replacing Loftus-Cheek, Musah and Kjaer.
Shortly after, Milan scored a goal again. The ball was played to Leao who attempted a cross with the outside of his boot which Consigli was only able to push into Jovic’s path, the Serbian striker firing a first-time shot into a virtually empty net.
Chukwueze again had the ball in the net and this time with an outstanding shot from the outside of the kick which hit the far post after his run behind was found, and again offside came to the rescue of Sassuolo as VAR scored him. He would then be withdrawn, with the arrival of Christian Pulisic.
In the last 15 minutes, Pulisic had a huge chance to equalize Milan. Adli was found in space on the right and returned a perfect ball to the American who hit it first time from deep in the box, but straight at Consigli.
Pioli’s final change came in the 82nd minute as Adli gave way to Noah Okafor, and he had only been on the pitch for 90 seconds when he scored. A corner was sent to the other side of the box and Gabbia fired a header with his chest behind, then the Swiss striker hammered it first time into the bottom corner to level the game.
It looked like Milan were going to take the lead for the first time when Pulisic was first to collect a loose ball and raced towards the box with options to team up, and although his touch let him down, the ball s He twisted towards Giroud who shot well above.
