Both Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic were standouts for their respective teams in the weekend’s Serie A matchups, with the former assisting on both of Juve’s goals in a home draw against Atalanta, and the latter netting the lone score of the game in AC Milan’s win over Empoli.
Juventus 2 – 2 Atalanta
Weston McKennie had a spectacular outing for Juventus on Sunday evening, assisting on both of their goals as they came back from a first-half deficit to eventually earn a hard-fought draw against visiting Atalanta.
Deployed in his usual right-of-center role in Massimiliano Allegri’s midfield, the American was clear man-of-the-match for the hosts, helping to trigger a short surge in the second half that rescued a point.
Tim Weah also earned late minutes, playing from the 83rd onwards as Juve tried to find a late winner.
Despite having a slight upper hand in terms of controlling the overall flow and creating more havoc near their opponents’ goal, the hosts were still forced to go into the break with a deficit.
On a 35th-minute free kick from 20 yards, Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic fooled the opposing defense by sliding it to a wide-open Teun Koopmeiners, whose first-time shot from just inside the area barely evaded a pair of Juve players on its way into the left side of goal.
Andrea Cambiaso equalized for the Old Lady midway through the second half, being the recipient of a short flick from McKennie, that slipped through a pair of Atalanta defenders, then poking it past Marco Carnesecchi at the near post.
Four minutes later, McKennie was again the generous teammate, chesting down a cross from Samuel Iling-Junior near the penalty spot, and leaving it in the perfect spot for Arkadiusz Milik’s sweeping finish to the left side.
The action-packed second half continued in the 75th minute, with Koopmeiners capping off a hectic ten minutes, running onto a short pass from Berat Djimsiti into the left side of the area, and striking with his first touch to slip his shot under the reach of Wojceich Szczesny.
Weah entered the game in place of Andrea Cambiaso in the 83rd minute as an attacking sub, followed five minutes later by McKennie’s departure in favor of young attacker Kenan Yildiz, however the final 2-2 result remained in-tact.
In the battle with fellow northerners AC Milan to claim second place, Juventus fall two points behind their counterparts, who narrowly won earlier in the day. They are back on the field on Sunday for a second consecutive home game, hosting 12th-place Genoa.
AC Milan 1 – 0 Empoli
Christian Pulisic continued his return to form on Sunday afternoon, netting the only goal of the game for AC Milan in their surprisingly difficult victory over relegation-threatened Empoli.
Pulisic’s USMNT teammate Yunus Musah also saw extensive action, playing the final half-hour to help see out the victory.
While the Rossoneri did largely dominate the action, holding nearly two-thirds of possession and putting five of their 15 shots on-target compared to a paltry amount of danger created by their guests, they were still given a tough test by Empoli, who are in the mix of clubs trying to avoid a drop into Serie B.
Pulisic’s goal in the 40th minute was all that Stefano Pioli’s men needed to take the three points, however it was not without some bit of drama.
Shortly past the 39-minute mark, Noah Okafor received a forward pass on the left flank and quickly advanced towards goal with a quick cut. Instead of taking the chance himself, he spotted is American teammate sneaking inwards unmarked from the right flank, and cut a pass back to him at the edge of the area.
The USMNT star struck with his first touch, a low attempt towards the right side that deflected off of Empoli keeper Elia Caprile’s fingers on its way over the line. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, however VAR overturned the decision, with Milan celebrating the lead.
Musah entered the game in the 62nd minute in place of Tijjani Reijnders, who had picked up a yellow card in the first half, and did a proficient job at keeping their visitors from building momentum. In fact, Empoli only managed one shot over the final half-hour, even if they can take pride in keeping their hosts from expanding the narrow lead.
With the victory, the Rossoneri jump past Juventus to claim second place in the Serie A standings, and will next take the field on Thursday with a visit to Slavia Prague in their Europa League knockout.
Notes
Nicholas Gioacchini saw his most extensive action of the season so far for Como on Saturday, playing the entire second half as they were unable to overcome an early red card in a 2-1 road loss at Cremonese. Como finish the round in fourth place, still within reach of the second automatic promotion spot.
Both Andrija Novakovich and Kristoffer Lund earned the start for their respective teams, as Palermo narrowly beat their hosts Lecco by a 1-0 margin. Lund played the entire game at left back for Palermo, while Novakovich played 80 minutes at center forward for Lecco, taking a pair of shots and setting up two ultimately unsuccessful chances for teammates. Fifth-place Palermo are well-embedded within the promotion playoff spots, while last-place Lecco can already look ahead to a near-certain return to Serie C.
Tanner Tessmann and Gianluca Busio both took up their typical starting roles in the central midfield for Venezia on Sunday, helping the team to a 3-1 home win over Bari. Tessmann did pick up his seventh yellow card of the season, putting him three away from a second suspension. Venezia finish the round in third place, two points out of the second automatic promotion spot.
