Christian Pulisic and AC Milan needed quite a bit more effort than expected to finally put down Frosinone, while Weston McKennie and Juventus were clearly reminded of the current Serie A pecking order in a loss to leaders Inter.
Frosinone 2 – 3 AC Milan
Christian Pulisic had a quiet outing for AC Milan on Saturday, while Yunus Musah was a late substitute in the final minutes, as the team needed a late goal to finally put down their hosts Frosinone in Serie A action.
As per usual, the USMNT star was on the field from the opening whistle on the right flank of Stefano Pioli’s attack, and played 80 minutes before being subbed out in favor of the eventual scorer of the game winner.
During his time on the field, he took a pair of shots, one of which forced a save, didn’t set up any additional chances, completed 21 out of 29 passes, won one out of two tackles and half of his eight duels, was dispossessed once, didn’t successfully complete either of his attempted dribbles, and drew one foul.
Rafael Leao had a hand in both of the first two goals scored in the game, quite literally so on the second. In the 17th minute, the Portuguese winger served up a beautiful cross from just beyond the upper left corner of the area, which Olivie Giroud headed in at the far lower corner.
However, seven minutes later while defending a cross from Frosinone’s Francesco Gelli, he was judged following a VAR review to have barely brushed the ball just as it crossed over the right edge of the 18-yard box. This allowed Matias Soulé to equalize from the spot with a perfect shot to the left side of Mike Maignan’s goal.
Pulisic came close just before the half-hour, breaking into the Frosinone area on the right side, but hitting his near-post shot directly into the hands of keeper Stefano Turati.
While generally overmatched as would be expected, the hosts still managed to take the lead over the Italian giants in the 67th minute, after a Noah Okafor handball gave them possession in the middle of the field. Soulé advanced on the right side and slipped a perfect through-ball towards Luca Mazzitelli, who struck a low, tightly-angled shot from the right of goal to the opposite corner.
The lead only lasted for seven minutes, after Giroud got his head onto a long cross at the left post, sent it to the far side to Matteo Gabbia, who lunged forward to head it over the line to equalize.
Pulisic left in the 80th minute in favor of Luka Jovic, and the move from Pioli paid off almost immediately, with the Serbian international taking advantage of a botched clearance between two Frosinone defenders near the penalty spot to opportunistically net the winner.
Musah came on for Giroud with four minutes left in regulation, and had nine touches, completing all three of his passes and drawing a pair of fouls as the team closed up shop to see out the win.
The victory still leaves the Rossoneri firmly planted in third place, with a relative gulf of points between their neighbors both above and below in the Serie A standings. They have their last full-week break for the next few weeks, with a visit from Napoli awaiting on Sunday.
Inter Milan 1 – 0 Juventus
Weston McKennie and Tim Weah saw their chances for a title push with Juventus take a hit on Sunday night, as a narrow loss at leaders Inter saw them fall well off the pace.
McKennie started in Juve’s midfield and to his credit, was one of their better performers on the night. While forced to focus more on a defensive role with Inter in control for most of the game, he did manage to set up three chances for teammates, and complete 90% of his 40 passing attempts. On the defensive side, he made four clearances, three recoveries, won three out of four duels and did not commit any fouls.
While Inter was typically was on the front foot, it did take a major defensive error and gift from the Juve defense in order for them to secure the victory.
In the 37th minute, Nicolo Barella lofted a chipped cross from just outside the area on the right side towards the middle of the Juventus goal. While Benjamin Pavard whiffed on his attempted midair, back-heel flick, the ball flew towards Marcus Thuram and Juve defender Federico Gatti, with the latter chesting the ball into his own net.
Tim Weah was introduced in the 66th minute as the Bianconeri desperately tried to conjure up an equalizer. He did demonstrate a nice bit of trickery to maintain possession and set up an open distance shot for Gatti, but the defender’s attempt to atone for his earlier mistake flew just wide left of goal.
Weah did have a good showing in his 25 minutes of play, completing all 14 of his passes and setting up one additional chance.
Still, Inter managed to hold onto their lucky lead without too much stress, to further solidify their grasp on first place. Juve are now four points off the pace, even with having played one game more than the leaders, and are back on the field next Monday when they host Udinese.
Palermo 3 – 0 Bari
Kristoffer Lund went the distance in Palermo’s defense for just the third time in his 22 appearances so far this season, as an overall dominating performance from the team earned them an important three points against Bari on Friday.
After frequently pressuring the Bari goal throughout the first half, Palermo finally got their long-awaited breakthrough just before the half, with Lund playing a key role.
The American played a quick give-and-go with Matteo Brunori on the left side, streaked towards the endline ahead of a pair of defenders, and launched a cross towards the far post. Roberto Insigne and his marking defender both went up for the ball, and with neither making solid contact, it fell directly in front of Filippo Ranocchia, whose ten-yard volley flew uncontested into the net.
With 18 minutes remaining, Pietro Ceccaroni added a second for Palermo, redirecting Francesco Di Mariano’s free kick into the middle of goal with a glancing header. Nine minutes later, Jacopo brought the final score to 3-0, heading in Di Mariano’s short cross from the left edge of the 18-yard box.
The second win in three games for the promotion-hunting teams keeps them in the middle of the six spots bound for the post-season playoff, and builds momentum for a potential push for the top two automatic promotion places. They will be confident of picking up another three points on Saturday when they visit next-to-last FeralpiSalo.
Parma 2 – 1 Venezia FC
Gianluca Busio and Tanner Tessmann saw Venezia lose ground in their hunt for automatic promotion to Serie A, with both USMNT midfielders starting in a heartbreaking, last-minute loss at division leaders Parma on Saturday.
As has become the standard case as of late, the two Americans made up the heart of Paolo Vanoli’s midfield, and put in efficient, albeit largely unrewarded performances. Busio completed 90% of his 49 passing attempts, while creating three chances and taking one shot. Tessmann had a total of 68 touches, completed just under 90% of his 54 passing attempts, too one shot, set up one chance, and earned his fifth yellow card of the season.
The teams, both of whom are aiming for a spot in Serie A next season, traded goals early on, with Parma striking first.
In the 21st minute, Brazilian midfielder Hernani launched a long diagonal pass from the right sideline towards the Venezia goal, where Valentin Mihaila had found space between the two central defenders. He took one touch to enter the right side of the penalty area, and struck a low shot to the far side of goal, well beyond Jesse Joronen’s grasp for the 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later, Giorgio Altare lofted a long cross from deep in the right flank towards the Parma goal, and Joel Pohjanpalo made a smart, foot-first lunge towards the ball to just beat his marking defender, and poke it over the line to equalize.
Neither team was able to break through before the end of regulation, although Parma were the more wasteful of the two, squandering several strong changes. However, in the tenth minute of added time, a Parma corner was initially cleared from in front of goal, but landed at the foot of Drrissa Camara, who struck the winner with a powerful, 21-yard volley.
The result drops Venezia into fourth place, in the thick of the promotion playoff spots, but still with just a three-point gap to second-place Cremonese. They are back in action on Saturday when they visit struggling Südtirol.
Notes
Andrija Novakovich was relegated to the Lecco bench on Saturday afternoon in favor of winter arrival Eddie Salcedo, however with his replacement failing to make any impact, he entered the game in the 57th minute to bolster the flailing attack. The American also struggled to get into the game, making only nine touches and taking just one shot during his time on the field in the eventual 1-0 home loss. Lecco remain dead-last in Serie B, and next face midtable Bari on Saturday.
Nicholas Gioacchini will have to wait a bit longer for his Serie B debut with Como, as he was an unused substitute on Saturday afternoon in their 1-0 road win over Ternana. The result leaves the third-place northern-Italian club two points out of the automatic promotion spots, with their next game happening on Friday against visiting Brescia.
