Christian Pulisic was in good form as he scored a goal for AC Milan to secure a comfortable win over Frosinone while Weston McKennie put in a strong outing for Juventus as they won a thriller at Monza.
AC Milan 3-1 Frosinone
AC Milan was able to forget about their Champions League struggles as they put in a strong performance to come away with all three points in their win over Frosinone at the San Siro.
Christian Pulisic started and played 78 minutes for the Rossoneri, completing 86 percent of his passes, winning six duels, and making one tackle while making two key passes and putting a shot on target. Yunus Musah played the full 90 minutes, completing all of his passes and winning two duels.
The hosts were on the attack from the start and Pulisic would play a role in giving them the lead in the 42nd minute when he intercepted a pass in the midfield. He would send the ball to Ruben Loftus-Cheek who then passed it on to Samuel Chukwueze. The Nigerian’s cross would take a deflection off the head of a Frosinone defender, but it fell in the right place for Luka Jovic to volley it home to give them the lead.
Milan doubled their lead in the 50th minute when goalkeeper Michael Maignan sent a long ball towards midfield. Pulisic did well to track the ball and controlled it exquisitely with his first touch. It was then off to the races as the U.S. captain sprinted ahead of the Frosinone backline towards the 18-yard box. He was momentarily put off balance, but he regained his composure and put his shot past the goalkeeper.
Fikayo Tomori extended their lead in the 74th minute when Pulisic chose to send his corner kick to Theo Hernandez who then put the ball into the area. Jovic was on the spot to head it into the path of the England defender as he was able to get his foot on it and push it across the goal line.
Marco Brescianini scored a consolation goal for the visitors in the 82nd minute as Milan maintained their hold on third place in the standings.
Up next, Milan will head to Bergamo on December 9 to face Atalanta.
Monza 1-2 Juventus
Juventus temporarily sat at the top of the Serie A standings as they scored the game-winning goal deep in stoppage time to beat Monza at the U-Power Stadium.
Weston McKennie put in a solid performance for the Bianconeri in 90-plus minutes of action, completing 84 percent of his passes, winning seven duels, making two tackles and one key pass as the team has now gone nine games unbeaten.
The visitors were gifted a chance to take the lead in the eighth minute when the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty as Andrea Cambiaso was brought down in the area. Duan Vlahovic should have buried the spot kick, but Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregori did well to make two saves from the Serbian striker’s chances.
Di Gregorio, however, could not stop Juventus for long as they came back 12th minute to score from a corner kick. Hans Nicolussi put the ball into the area and Adrien Rabiot was on the spot to send a powerful header bulging into the back of the net.
It appeared the game was headed towards a 1-0 win for Juventus, but all of the dramatics would come in stoppage time.
Monza finally got the goal they needed to level the score in the 91st minute. Valentin Carboni dribbled the ball down the right side before cutting to his left to send the ball towards the goal. Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was caught off guard and reacted too late as the ball hit the net.
However, the Old Lady would have the final word in the game as Federico Gatti scored the game-winner in the 94th minute. Rabiot charged into the box with the ball to deliver it to the Italian defender. Gatti did poorly to get a good strike on the ball the first time but the second effort was all that mattered as bagged the win for his team.
Juventus will be at home next week to face the reigning Serie A champions Napoli.
Notes
In Serie B, both Tanner Tessman and Gianluca Busio had strong outings for Venezia, with the latter getting an assist, as the team stayed in second place following their 3-1 win over Ascoli.
Andrija Novakovic started and played 78 minutes as Lecco secured a 1-0 win over Bari.
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