Rafael Leao turned on the style late on to beat Verona and end Milan’s season with a win, but Hellas will get to face Spezia in a relegation play-off.
2022/2023 Serie A
3-1
Match Report
The Rossoneri already had fourth place locked down, but it was all to play for as Hellas needed to get a better result than Spezia to avoid relegation or match their score for a play-off. Spezia were beaten 2-1 by Roma, so they’ll face off for the single showdown.
Ismael Bennacer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were out injured, the Swede set to say goodbye to the fans after the final whistle as his contract will not be renewed. He was visibly moved as the crowd saluted him with the message ‘GodBye.’ Kevin Lasagna, Ondrej Duda and Thomas Henry were out of action.
Theo Hernandez had penalty appeals waved away and Junior Messias saw a couple of attempts deflected wide, while Malick Thiaw did just enough to stop Cyril Ngonge setting up Adrien Tameze from nine yards.
After a give-and-go with Olivier Giroud, Theo Hernandez flashed the ball across the face of goal too hard for anyone to get the tap-in.
On the stroke of half-time, the referee was called to an on-field VAR review for the late Ngonge challenge on Brahim Diaz. Giroud stepped up and converted the penalty to put Milan in front.
Theo Hernandez went on a promising run, but tried to set up Giroud and it was intercepted by Sulemana, then Mike Maignan got away with a huge risk as he rushed outside the penalty area for a sliding tackle on Ngonge and just about managed to get the ball.
Ngonge should’ve rolled across for two teammates waiting to tap in from six yards after skinning Fikayo Tomori down the right, but instead went for goal and hit the side-netting.
Verona did manage to equalise on 72 minutes when Milan were caught napping, as Darko Lazovic pulled it back from the by-line and Marco Davide Faraoni was ready to nod in at the back post.
Milan felt they should’ve had a penalty moments later, when Rafael Leao’s header struck Faraoni on the arm, but the referee and VAR opted to play on.
Instead, Leao ran wild in the final stages, as first he started from midfield and cut inside to beat Montipò with a low drive, then he turned on the style.
In the second goal, he shrugged off one defender, combined with Alexis Saelemaekers, then dummied another defender and the goalkeeper before depositing into an empty net.
Saelemaekers almost had another in stoppages, his right-foot curler thumping the crossbar.
Line-ups
Milan XI: Giroud, Maignan, Krunic, Calabria, Tomori, Theo, Brahim, Junior Messias, Tonali, Leao, Malick Thiaw
Subs: Kjaer, Mirante, Tatarusanu, Bakayoko, Florenzi, Origi, F.Toure, Gabbia, Tommaso Pobega, Yacine Adli, Alexis Saelemaekers, De Ketelaere, Kalulu, Aster Vranckx
Verona XI: Veloso, Milan Djuric, Faraoni, Tameze, Lorenzo Montipò, Giangiacomo Magnani, Depaoli, Isak Hien, Cyril Ngonge, Juan Cabal, Ibrahim Sulemana
Subs: Lazovic, Verdi, A. Berardi, Ceccherini, Simone Perilli, Dawidowicz, Ajdin Hrustic, Deyovaisio Zeefuik, Oliver Abildgaard, Adolfo Gaich, Jayden Braaf, Josh Doig, Filippo Terracciano, Yayah Kallon, Diego Coppola