A loss to city rival Inter Milan forced Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah to watch their opponents celebrate their 20th Serie A title, while Gianluca Busio added another highlight to his already strong season to keep Venezia’s promotion hopes alive.
AC Milan 1 – 2 Inter Milan
Both Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah earned starting spots in the AC Milan midfield on Monday night, however it was a night to forget for the Rossoneri as they fell at home to city rivals Inter Milan in a red-card-filled game.
While not yet mathematically eliminated from a title push, AC Milan’s 14-point deficit before kickoff in the Serie A standings compared to their Monday-night opponents Inter essentially made this edition of the Derby della Madonnina a game for city bragging rights.
Despite the Rossoneri holding a slight edge in the run of play, Inter’s goals on either side of the half ensured that they would head home both as top dogs in Milan, as well as winners of their 20th Serie A title.
Pulisic and Musah flanked central midfielder Ruben Loftus-cheek, with the former occupying a left-sided role, and the latter managing the right side of the attack. Both were largely held at bay by the Inter defense, although Pulisic did manage one shot just wide of the mark late in the game, while Musah possessed the ball well and set up a couple of chances.
In the 18th minute, a corner from the left was headed on toward the far post by Benjamin Pavard, where Francesco Acerbi was perfectly positioned in front of goal to put away his uncontested header for the 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Musah made a long counter-attacking run up the right side into Inter territory, then hit Rafael Leao on the left with space to operate. However, the Portuguese international hit his low shot weakly, giving Yann Sommer an easy save.
Four minutes after the half, Marcus Thuram scored a stunner for the 2-0 lead, holding possession and evading his marking defender Fikayo Tomori on the left side, before cutting inwards to lash a low shot to the lower left corner.
With 13 minutes remaining and Milan coach Stefano Pioli searching desperately for any opening, attacking option Noah Okafor came in for Musah, and moments later a chaotic scene in front of Inter’s goal did see the lead cut to a single goal.
Leao headed a short cross to the center of the box which Matteo Gabbia sent goalward, only for Sommer to make a nice one-handed save. However, the ball took a bounce off the right upright and landed directly into the path of Tomori, whose one-yard header over the line gave his team some final minutes of hope.
However Inter held strong, with the final minutes marked by a pair of violent scenes that led to straight reds for Milan’s Theo Hernández and Davide Calabria, as well as Inter’s Denzel Dumfries.
With the title now mathematically out of reach for Milan, and the team out of both European and Coppa Italia competition, they will need to maintain their focus over the last five league games in order to keep their grip on second place. They are back in action on Saturday when they visit fellow northerners Juventus.
Cagliari 2 – 2 Juventus
Tim Weah earned a rare start for Juventus on Friday evening, as a late own-goal by their generous hosts Cagliari helped the Bianconeri to avoid embarrassment.
The USMNT attacker was in the Juve starting XI for the first time in over two months, his last coming in the team’s mid-February home loss to Udinese. Weston McKennie, who began the game as a bench option for head coach Massimiliano Allegri, entered the game in the 68th minute, shortly after the visitors began their comeback.
Despite Juve having a firm grip on the proceedings and dominating nearly every statistical category in the opening 45 minutes, it would be Cagliari who held the two-goal lead at the half, albeit due to some moments of misfortune by their opponents.
Weah did mount some trouble for the Cagliari keeper Simone Scuffet, slipping free in the right side of the area early on, but targeting his shot directly into his opponent’s arms.
The hosts were practically gifted the lead at the half hour after Alberto Dossena’s attempted header following a corner brushed Bremer’s arm, giving Gianluca Gaetano the chance to convert to the lower left corner.
Six minutes later, Juve keeper Wojciech Szczesny upended Zito Luvumbo has the Angolan attacker charged into the area, again leading to a penalty, this time nailed by Yerry Mina in nearly the same fashion as their opening goal a few minutes before.
With both goals coming against the overall flow of the game, and the visitors continuing their dominance after the break, it was inevitable that they would eventually find their way onto the scoreboard.
Moments past the hour mark, Dusan Vlahovic lined up for a 20-yard free kick following a foul on Federico Chiesa, and nailed his attempt just inside the left upright to cut the lead to a single goal.
In the 68th minute, McKennie entered the game in place of his USMNT compatriot, who had picked up a yellow card shortly before the half, and helped his team keep up the waves of pressure.
They finally got the goal they needed to pull out the draw, even if in somewhat fortuitous fashion, with Dossena accidentally poking in a deep cross from Kenan Yildiz as he attempted to clear the ball.
The result leaves Juventus in third place following the round of games, mathematically eliminated from challenging for the title, but still a near lock for claiming one of Italy’s five Champions League spots.
They next visit Lazio on Tuesday, looking to hole on to their aggregate two-goal lead in the Coppa Italia semifinal, then host second-place AC Milan four days later.
Lecco 1 – 2 Venezia FC
Gianluca Busio was the standout for Venezia on Saturday afternoon, netting the winning goal for the visitors as a come-from-behind win over Lecco kept their slim hopes for automatic promotion alive.
Busio was the main threat for Venezia, taking four shots while setting up a pair of chances in his 90 minutes of play. More impressively, he put all four of his shots on-target, forcing the opposing keeper in to three saves, in addition to scoring his seventh goal of the season.
Tanner Tessmann was also strong in the team’s central midfield, making 75 touches while taking one shot and setting up another chance. Lecco’s Andrija Novakovich was less impactful for the overpowered hosts, although he did manage one shot over 75 minutes of play.
Lecco took the lead midway through the first half thanks to Nicolo Buso’s relentless tenacity, the winger beating several defenders before launching his low shot through a crowd for the opening goal.
Joel Pohjanpalo brought the visitors even just before the hour, waiting at the far post to head in a towering corner from Nichilas Pierini.
Then two minutes later, Busio netted the winner, receiving a short lay-off just inside the area from Giorgio Altare, then finessing his shot the lower right corner for the final 2-1 lead.
The victory keeps Venezia three points behind second-place Como with four games left, meaning that grabbing the second automatic promotion spot is still very much within reach. They are back in action on Friday when they host Cremonese.
Notes
Kristoffer Lund played the full game at left back for Palermo, as a scoreless draw at home against Serie B leaders Parma left them still well within the promotion playoff spots. With four games left to go in the regular season, they will try to end their lengthening winless streak on Saturday when they host Reggiana.
Nicholas Gioacchini played the final 22 minutes plus added time for Como on Saturday, with the team’s 5-2 road victory over FeralpiSalo solidifying their second-place spot and push towards automatic promotion. They next visit Sampdoria on Saturday.
