2023-12-30 19:13:05
Rome (AFP) – Both Milan and Atalanta regained their balance with a hard-fought victory over their guests Sassuolo and Lecce by one score, 1-0, while Udinese put the brakes on Bologna’s awakening when they honored their team with a clean 3-0 on Saturday in the eighteenth round of the Italian Football League.
Published on: 12/30/2023 – 20:13 Last updated: 12/30/2023 – 20:11
5 minutes
In the first match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Milan waited until the 59th minute to open the scoring when Algerian international Ismail Bennacer passed a ball creeping into the area. Brazilian substitute defender Rowan Trisoldi tried to cut it off, but he prepared it for American Christian Pulisic, who penetrated without supervision, so he followed it up with his right from close range. Right goalkeeper Andrea Conselli.
Milan, which suffers from many injuries in its ranks, did not show a convincing level and its attackers failed to create many chances, especially the Portuguese international winger Rafael Leao.
The Lombard team played with great caution, especially since Sassuolo defeated them 5-2 on the same stadium in the twentieth stage of last season.
Milan achieved the most important thing by winning the three points, making up for its disappointing 2-2 draw with host Salernitana in the last stage.
Coach Stefano Pioli’s men took advantage of the stumble of their neighbor Inter, the leaders, once morest their host Genoa 1-1 on Tuesday at the opening of the stage and reduced the difference to nine points between them, reviving their slim hopes of competing for the title.
Milan raised its score to 36 points in third place, compared to 45 points for Inter and 40 points for Juventus, which will host Roma later at the top of the stage.
In the second, at the “Giois Stadium” in Bergamo, Atalanta temporarily rose to sixth place with a hard-fought victory over its guest, Lecce, 1-0.
In turn, coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s team benefited from Napoli, the defending champion, being content with a goalless draw with its guest, Montsa, on Friday, to move ahead of the southern team by a point and the same over Roma.
Atalanta owes its ninth win of the season to Nigerian Ademola Lookman, who scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute with a shot from outside the area, inflicting only their second defeat on Lecce in the last seven stages and sixth this season, so his score froze at 20 points in thirteenth place.
Gasperini praised his team, which “played a good match, as was the case once morest Bologna (in the previous stage) before we suffered an undeserved defeat (0-1),” adding to the “Dazone” streaming network, “We suffered in the last ten minutes, and Lecce deserves a mention.” Because of what he did.”
Lookman’s goal was his last contribution to the team before he left to participate with his country in the African Cup of Nations scheduled for Ivory Coast starting January 13.
Gasperini touched on this issue, saying, “Unfortunately, Lookman will travel tomorrow (Sunday), but we have (Colombian Luis) Murial, (Gianluca) Scamacca, (Belgian Charles) de Ketelaar, (Russian Alexei) Miranchuk, (Malian Bilal) Toure. “It will be an opportunity for them to get more time on the pitch.
He continued, “I do not want to say that I hope Nigeria does not achieve a good result, but of course I hope that Lookman’s absence will not be long. More than anything else, we hope that he will not be injured.”
Udinese brakes Bologna
In the third match at the Dacia Arena in Udine, Udinese stopped Bologna’s remarkable awakening in the recent period when they honored their team with a clean hat-trick, scored by Argentines Roberto Pereira (23), Lorenzo Luca (48), and the other Argentine, Martin Bayero (52).
It is the first loss for Bologna in its last six matches in the league and the seventh in various competitions in a series during which it achieved five victories, the most notable of which was stripping Inter Milan, the league leaders, of their title as champion of the cup competition when they beat them in the San Siro 2-1 following extra time in the round of 16, and then overtime. Atalanta is in the last stage.
Bologna was satisfied with one win in its first six matches of the season, which was at the expense of Cagliari 2-1, following which it returned to a draw in three consecutive matches before it rose up and achieved eight victories in 12 league matches, during which it suffered one loss, which was once morest its host Fiorentina 1-2.
Bologna failed to regain fourth place from Fiorentina, which won over Torino 1-0 on Friday at the opening of the stage, following its score froze at 31 points and fell to fifth place, two points behind the Florence pole.
On the other hand, Udinese breathed a sigh of relief with only its second victory this season and the first in its last seven matches, specifically since beating its host Milan 1-0 in the eleventh round on the fourth of last November.
Salernitana followed Udinese’s example and achieved its second victory this season when it defeated its host Verona 1-0, scored by Frenchman Lom Chauna in the 48th minute.
Salernitana remained in last place with 12 points, compared to 14 for Verona, 17th.
Cagliari tied with Empoli 0-0.
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