Milan won 1-0 away at home to Lazio in the 27th round of Serie A on Friday, thanks to a goal from Noah Okafor. The match ended with a dramatic endgame and the home side had three red cards, so they ended the match with 8 men.
LAZIO – MILAN 0-1
Date: 2024.03.01. 20:45
Location: Olympic Stadium, Rome
Referee: Marco Di Bello
Scorers: Okafor (88.)
Yellow cards: Sarri, Pellegrini, Romagnoli, Immobile, Hysaj ill. Florenzi, Adli, Gabbia, Hernández, Leao, Pulisic
Red card: Pellegrini (57′), Marusic (95′), Guendouzi (96′)
Serie A 2023/24, Round 27
At the beginning of the match, Lazio had their first really serious goal-scoring opportunity, as Matias Vecino’s attempt from a slipped ball following a corner went wide of the post, then Valentin Castellanos’ long-range shot was easily caught by Mike Maignan. In the extra time of the first half, Theo Hernández started from his own half and then passed it to Christian Pulisic, who fired a left-footed shot at the goal, but Ivan Provedel hit the ball for a corner. After that, Olivier Giroud tried from Theo’s corner, but his header missed the target and went over the goal.
In the 56th minute, following Pulisic’s corner, Giroud took the ball, but his shot missed the goal. A minute later, Luca Pellegrini pulled down Pulisic and since he already had a yellow card, referee Marco Di Bello sent off the Lazio defender with a second yellow card, and as a result, the Rossoneri had a man advantage.
In the 65th minute, following a great interplay, Giroud found himself in a position in the penalty area, but his shot in the evening was caught by Provedel. Seven minutes later, a promising situation appeared in front of Milan: Reijnders’ ball in the middle was just not reached by Noah Okafor, and following Davide Calabria’s pass, Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Provedel. In the 76th minute, from Tijjani Reijnders’ start, Rafael Leao received a great ball on the left wing and took in the opponent’s goal, but the referee canceled the goal due to offside on the VAR signal and the score remained 0-0.
In the last minutes of regular time, Theo started with a huge sprint from his own half on the left wing and Okafor’s first shot from Leao’s ball in the center was blocked by Ivan Provedel, but following the rebound, the ball was once more in front of Okafor, who shot into the goal with his right, without adjustment. Although Lazio’s goalkeeper got his hands on the ball, he mightn’t save it. The Rossoneri won the match once morest Lazio with this goal.
In the extra time, tempers got loose and the thread broke for the Lazio players, in the 95th minute Adam Marusic and a minute later Matteo Guendouzi also received a red card, so the Romans ended the match with 8 players. Milan gained valuable 3 points away from home and clings to the second-placed Juventus.
STARTING TEAMS:
LAZIO (4-3-3): Provedel; Marušić, Gila, Romagnoli, Pellegrini; Guendouzi, Vecino (78′ Cataldi), L. Alberto (60′ Hysaj); F. Anderson, Castellanos (60′ Immobile), Zaccagni (66′ Isaksen).
Cserék: Mandas, Renzetti; Casale, Lazzari, Ruggeri; A. Anderson, Kamada; Pedro.
AC MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi (64′ Calabria), Kjær (81′ Thiaw), Gabbia (81′ Tomori), Hernandez; Bennacer (64′ Reijnders), Adli (71′ Okafor); Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Lion; Giroud.
Subs: Mirante, Sportiello; Jiménez, Kalulu, Terracciano; Musah; Chukwueze.
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