Christian Pulisic’s early assist for AC Milan gave them an early advantage that was subsequently wasted by the still-winless erstwhile Italian giants, while Weston McKennie returned from his exile as a substitute in Juve’s snoozer at home against Roma.
Lazio 2 – 2 AC Milan
Christian Pulisic maintained his strong start to the new season, picking up an early assist for AC Milan on their trip to Lazio on Saturday, however the team was still forced to settle for a point to continue their winless start to the season.
Yunus Musah also featured for the Rossoneri, playing the final 20 minutes and generally contributing positively, with no misplaced passes amongst his 14 attempts, one shot and one chance created.
After last weekend’s embarrassing loss to promoted Parma, new head coach Paolo Fonseca once again made several changes to his starting XI, shifting Pulisic to the left wing, while inserting Samuel Chukwueze on the right. Musah was pulled in central midfield in favor of Youssouf Fofana, while both outside backs were switched out with significantly less experienced options.
Still, the lineup tweaks seemed to be a minor improvement to the team’s performance during the first hour, before a collapse saw them forced to battle back to even earn a draw.
Milan’s attack, led by the underwhelming Noah Okafor at center forward, struggled to create much of any sustained pressure, although their general profligacy was temporarily papered over by an early set-piece goal.
Shortly past the seven-minute mark, Pulisic delivered an inswinging corner from the left side to the middle of the six-yard box, which central defender Strahinja Pavlovic rose to head in towards the back post. Lazio keeper Ivan Provedal might have had a chance to prevent the score, however had charged off his line to grab the ball, and collided with one of his defenders, giving Pavlovic the clear shot.
Two minutes before the halftime break, Pulisic came tantalizingly close to setting up former Chelsea teammate Ruben Loftus-Cheek for what would have been the team’s second goal, sending a low cross from the left goalwards, but the English midfielder was just a half-step short of being able to make contact with what would have been an almost sure score.
Lazio proceeded to equalize shortly past the hour, with a stylish attacking sequence ending with Nuno Tavares firing a short cross from the left side into the six-yard box, which Valentin Castellanos put away in midair with a one-timed shot on the hop.
Then barely three minutes later, the hosts took the lead, with Tavares again being the catalyst, racing to the endline left of goal and centering the ball for Boulaye Dia to emphatically blast over the line for the 2-1 lead.
Sensing the game getting out of hand, Fonseca made a quadruple switch around the 70th minute, with Musah being one of the new entrants, taking the place of of Tijjani Reijnders in the midfield.
Shortly after the switch, the coach’s moves paid off, with two of the substitutes teaming up on the equalizer. Theo Hernandez hit Tammy Abraham just inside the top of the area with a short pass from the left, and the on-loan attacker controlled the ball before laying it off for Rafael Leao. The Portuguese winger had just enough space around the outside of his marking defender to target a line just inside the right upright, beating the keeper for the 2-2.
Lazio had a pair of half-convincing penalty shouts within the last ten minutes, however the remainder played out without any major drama, with the final whistle awarding each team one point.
Milan are all the way down in 14th place heading into the international break, and next host last-place Venezia on September 15, although the game could be moved forward as the just-announced Champions League schedule has them hosting Liverpool two days later.
Juventus 0 – 0 Roma
Weston McKennie’s inevitable, and seemingly-annual return to prominence to Juventus after a summer of rumors took its first big step on Sunday night, however it could be forgiven if no viewers stayed awake to see his 23-minute substitute appearance in a scoreless home draw against Roma.
Tim Weah is still recovering from a hamstring injury, and will be hopeful of returning to active duty after the international break.
An uneventful game saw the teams split possession and each put a paltry one shot on-target, creating no real close calls through the duration of the 90 minutes.
McKennie entered the game midway through the second half, joining Douglas Luis to replace Manuel Locatelli and Nicolo Fagioli in the midfield. While not adding any x-factor to Juve’s withering attack, he played competently for his first appearance of the season, completing 13 out of 18 passes, having 22 total touches, winning his only tackle, and one out of three duels.
The result leaves June on equal points with Inter, Torino and Udinese atop the Serie A standings, but currently in second place by way of their goalscoring record. The team has yet to concede any goals through their first three games.
They return after the international break to face Empoli on September 15.
Notes
Gianluca Busio is still recovering from an injury suffered at the Summer Olympics, and missed Venezia’s 1-0 home loss to Torino on Friday night. After three games, the Winged Lions are rooted to the bottom of the Serie A standings with one point and one goal scored from their first three games. They have a two-week break to regroup before visiting regional foes AC Milan on September 15, where Busio should be once again available for selection.
Andrija Novakovich went the distance atop Bari’s attack alongside Kevin Lasagna on Saturday evening, but the team was unable to exploit their on-field advantage over 10-man Sampdoria, who had a player sent off in the opening minutes, and were forced to settle for a point on the road with the scoreless draw. Bari are second-bottom in Serie B after four games, and next host Mantova on September 14.
Kristoffer Lund played the first half of Palermo’s 1-1 home draw against Cosenza on Sunday night.
Jonathan Klinsmann stayed rooted to the Cesena bench on Sunday night as the team’s back unused backup keeper. The team lost 2-1 at Spezia.