May 09, (THEWILL) – A 3-1 away win over Hellas Verona on Sunday evening, allowed Milan regain their two-point advantage over Inter at the top of Serie A and improve their chances of successfully defending the Scudetto.
The Rossoneri had to come back from a goal down after Davide Faraoni opened the scoring in the first half, but a brace from Sandro Tonali and a late goal from Alessandro Florenzi gave them the victory.
Within 14 minutes, Rade Krunic, a late addition to the starting lineup, had the game’s first chance, leaping high to force a stop from Lorenzo Montipo.
Milan thought they had opened the scoring seconds later. Tonali pounced onto a long ball and twisted his marker before shooting it into the far corner for what would have been his fourth Serie A goal of the season if a VAR check had not ruled it out for a slight offside.
Tonali picked out Davide Calabria’s forward move just four minutes later, but the Milan captain’s shot was brilliantly saved by Montipo.
Verona had their own opportunities also. Giovanni Simeone was slid in on goal shortly after the half-hour mark, but his shot went wide off the near post.
The hosts found the opener just a few minutes later. Milan were split open by some clever build-up play, which culminated in Darko Lazovic crossing for Faraoni to score.
Milan was behind 1-0 at halftime, but Rafael Leao had other ideas. He picked up the ball on the left side, beat two opponents, and fizzed it across the box, where Tonali turned it in.
The Rossoneri came out strong in the second half, taking the lead just a few minutes after the restart. Tonali scored again, this time ghosting in at the back post to convert a Leao cross after the Brazilian had made an incredible run forward.
After assisting on two goals, Leao had an opportunity to find the net himself after the hour mark, but his weak effort was easily saved.
From then until full time, Milan had to do some defending, with centre-backs Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu, swallowing up Verona’s rush of crosses before Florenzi sealed the win five minutes from time.
The right-back linked well with fellow substitute, Junior Messias, before sending the ball low and powerfully beyond Montipo’s grasp, much to the delight of the over 16,000 Milan fans inside the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Milan have their title fate in their hands now and will be declared champions if they win their remaining two Serie A games against Atalanta and Sassuolo.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
