AC Milan brought their six-game winless run to an and last night against Cagliari as they comprehensively beat the relegation-threatened side 5-1 at San Siro.
La Gazetta dello Sport writes this morning that it seems that the solar storm hit San Siro, given that Milan returned to shining in the second half after 45 minutes of darkness. Thanks to a rediscovered Rafael Leao, Marco Sportiello and Christian Pulisic, it ended up being a fun night.
It is a victory that does not yet give the mathematical certainty of second place, but in the meantime gives the certainty of participating in the next Supercoppa Italiana. The Sardinians, however, remain stuck in the big group of sides battling relegation at 33 points.
The first 45 minutes were a ‘hymn of dissatisfaction’. The fans looked bored in the stands without the usual energy of the Curva Sud – who protested again – at least until Ismael Bennacer scored the goal to give Milan the lead in the 35th minute.
He hadn’t scored for more than a year – 6 May 2023, Milan-Lazio 2-0 – and this time the celebration was for his mother. Bennacer, who took to the pitch with his mother’s surname on his shirt like everyone else, laughs enthusiastically and shows the stadium what is written on his back: “Bensahnoun”. The surname of the most important woman in his life.
After a first half lacking in opportunities and excitement, Pioli attracted the attention of San Siro by sending Rafael Leao on and he hit the bar almost instantly, and that came not long before Christian Pulisic did get the goal to make it 2-0.
Cagliari woke up after that and got themselves back into the game when Zappa found Nandez with a ball that went across the entire area. That would be as much as they could celebrate though, as in the 74th minute Tijjani Reijnders scores with a right-footed shot from 25 yards, then Leao scored from Bennacer’s feed and Pulisic got his second.
With the big names firing it’s a a completely different Milan. Three other points worthy of note: Theo’s entry onto the pitch, welcomed with applause, Pobega’s return to the pitch after five months and a decisive Sportiello again.
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