Sassuolo achieved a surprising success with 3-1 on their visit to Milan in the 14th round of Serie A.
Head coach Stefano Pioli made six changes to the starting line-up that beat Atletico Madrid as Mike Maignan came in for Ciprian Tatarusanu, Alessandro Florenzi started at right-back over Pierre Kalulu, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Ismael Bennacer came in for the Tonali-Kessie double pivot, while Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were reinstated into the attack in place of Rade Krunic and Olivier Giroud.
Milan put pressure from the beginning, and in the fifth minute Bakayoko’s long shot went past left the post. The Rossoneri continued to attack, but were caught offside several times. This led to the 21st minute, when after a cross from a corner the captain of Romagnoli scored with a header for 1-0.
Only three minutes later, however, Gianluca Scamacca equalized for the guests with an incredible shot from a long distance.
In the 28th minute, the Neroverdi demanded a penalty for a handball by Brahim Diaz, but after a quick check with VAR it was dismissed. Simon Kjaer’s unfortunate own goal gave Sassuolo a 2-1 lead inside 33 minutes.
Even with veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the attack, Milan struggled to issue a response, as Domenico Berardi made sure of the victory for Sassuolo with a superb solo goal in the 66th minute.
Romagnoli’s red card in the 77th minute effectively ended Milan’s hopes of getting anything from the game.
AC Milan remain second in the standings with 32 points, three behind Napoli, who beat Lazio soundly 4-0 on Sunday.
