Reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, AC Milan showed the outside world their giants and defended the glory of Serie A. However, after the start of the new season, the Rossoneri's combat effectiveness is not as good as before, not only failed to break through from the group of death, but after 17 rounds of Serie A, they have been far away from the city's rival Inter, and fighting for four is a more realistic goal. On this match day, AC Milan ushered in the final game of the year, sitting at home to Sassuolo, although the latter is 16th in the standings and gradually approaching the relegation zone, but has beaten Inter Milan and Juventus, so that AC Milan has to be afraid. Bennacer and Rafael Leao scored goals in succession, and Christian Pulisic sealed the throat with a sword, and AC Milan beat their opponents 1-0 and secured the top three in the standings.
Stefano Pioli continued to play a 4-2-3-1 system, with Maignan as the starting goalkeeper without any suspense, Te'o in central defence and in line with Calabria, Kjaer and Florenzi, Loftus-Cheek, Bennacer and Reinders in midfield, Giroud in the middle, Leao and Christian Pulisic on the wings.
As the referee's whistle blew and the San Siro fans cheered on, the AC Milan players were in high spirits and successfully suppressed Sassuolo. Only 7 minutes into the opening game, Reinders burst into a cold arrow outside the penalty area, Consili saved the ball, Giroud inverted the triangle and passed again, Bennacer easily pushed and hit, but unfortunately the former was offside first, and the goal was invalidated.
In the 10th minute, Reinders ran long distance with the ball, advanced to the front court, saw that the opponent did not step forward to restrict, shot hard again, and grazed the post out of bounds. In the 22nd minute, Bennasser counter-attacked in front, and then continued to change direction to kill a bloody way, cutting inside on the right side and shooting into the near corner, grazing the post out of bounds. In the 25th minute, Calabria shifted widely, Leao cut in on the left to unload the ball, and his powerful shot from a tight angle was blocked.
In the 32nd minute, Bennacer's through ball was blocked, followed up and sent a direct pass, Leao scored a single shot, but was ruled invalid because of offside. A minute later, Sassuolo returned the colour when Berardi cut inside on the right and fired a shot from outside the box, and Maignan responded with a world-class save.
In the first 45 minutes, AC Milan created 10 shots on goal, but only one was on target, two of which were cancelled and the two teams returned to the dressing room with a 0-0 scoreline. Back on the pitch, AC Milan seized their chance. In the 59th minute, Loftus-Cheek sent a through ball, Pulisic seized on the opponent's clearance error, and calmly pushed it into the net in front of the goal, 1-0!
Since joining AC Milan, Christian Pulisic has made 16 appearances in Serie A, has handed over six goals and four assists, and has been directly involved in 10 goals, and fans say that the captain of the United States is helping the poor with technology, and the 22 million is really worth the money. In the 74th minute, Stefano Pioli made his first team debut for the 18-year-old to come off the bench and make his senior debut for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
In the 78th minute, AC Milan's corner kick was cleared, and Florenzi's volley from outside the box was of extremely high quality and grazed the crossbar out of bounds.
Pioli then continued to make substitutions, with Chukwueze and Simic coming on and Leao and Kjaer being removed. In the end, AC Milan blocked the opponent's counterattack and won 1-0 against Sassuolo to complete the 2023 journey with a victory. AC Milan remain in third place in the standings. With Juventus facing Roma in the round, AC Milan pinned their hopes of narrowing the gap on Jose Mourinho.