“We Played A Good Game But In The End We Even Risked Losing It”

It eventually ended in a disappointing result at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium for current Serie A table leaders, AC Milan as they failed to beat their opponent, Sassuolo today in the 15th round of match for the 2025-26 season, throwing a spanner in the wheel of their Scudetto dream.

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While Davide Bartesaghi scored his first two goals in Serie A, but the Neroverdi bravely picked up a point thanks to goals from Ismael Koné and Armand Laurienté in a 2-2 draw as the visitors were without their star Domenico Berardi, and Laurienté started on the bench in a defensive 4-3-3 set-up.

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Notwithstanding, the away side still took the lead with Ismael Koné after winning the ball high up the pitch from a Milan defensive throw-in. Andrea Pinamonti laid it off for the Ivory Coast international who ran into the space to beat Matteo Gabbia with his first touch and Mike Maignan with the outside of his foot.

Adrien Rabiot had a big chance to level the score when he stole the ball from Alieu Fadera at the edge of Sassuolo’s box, but saw Arijanet Muric spread himself brilliantly to deny the equaliser and it was just a matter of time for Milan anyway after several attempts failed to yield.

Bartesaghi scored his first Serie A goal at minute 33 when he headed towards the far post to meet a Ruben Loftus-Cheek driven pass from the right, finding the net at the far post with a left-footed finish. The Italian left-back doubled Milan’s lead just one minute into the second half.

This time around, Christopher Nkunku saw his late run on the left delivering a perfect through ball for Bartesaghi’s finish at the near post. After scoring his first senior goal in the first half, 19-year-old Davide Bartesaghi gets a brace just a minute into the second half.

Matteo Gabbia worringly twisted his knee and was forced to be subbed off around the hour mark.Sassuolo’s Kristian Thorstvedt had a massive chance to level the score, but was denied by Maignan from point-blank range, and Milan had two goals disallowed for a foul and offside respectively.

Pulisic found the net from a corner kick routine, but the referee spotted a foul from Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the build-up. A few minutes later, Adrien Rabiot steered a Loftus-Cheek header into the net, but he was offside bt Sassuolo made attacking substitutions to try and get back in the game.

Armand Laurienté and Josh Doig were introduced and this forced the Rossoneri to defend inside their own box but Laurienté made it 2-2 with an identical move to the first goal, Pinamonti laying it off and the scorer bursting in to finish at the far post to level things up.

The Frenchman had two more big chances to win the game for Sassuolo, but first, he didn’t find the net from an excellent position inside the box and then he hit the post from distance but the scores eventually stayed the same until the final whistle to derail their title charge.

Meanwhile, for Massimiliano Allegri, he insists that he would have replaced Christian Pulisic even if Milan didn’t play in the Supercoppa next week, but feels it was ‘too easy’ for Sassuolo to score goals in a 2-2 draw as he spoke in a post match interview with DAZN.

“I think we played a good game, we attacked well, and Sassuolo are always dangerous because they have quality in attack, so if you don’t recover the ball immediately, you are forced to track back for 90 minutes. We played a good game, but in the end, we even risked losing it.” Allegri said.

“Now we focus on the Supercoppa. The lads played a good game, regardless of the players’ characteristics. For now, we are still the table leaders, and our target is to qualify for the Champions League. We know there’s a lot of work to do, and obviously, we must start conceding fewer goals. I can’t absolutely blame the lads today.”

The Diavoli will face Napoli in Saudi Arabia in the Supercoppa Italia semifinal next Thursday and while Allegri replaced Pulisic in the second half today, he said he would have done the same even if Milan didn’t play the Partenopei next week. “I would have done it anyway.” He further added.

“Christian had joined us in Turin after a fever and then trained. He played well for 72 minutes, but at that moment, we needed one more midfielder. Loftus-Cheek held firm up front, but we had to defend better, especially for the second goal. We had to follow Laurienté, and it was too easy for them to score.”

Christopher Nkunku provided the assist for Bartesaghi’s second goal. “Today he played a good game, as in Turin. He was decisive for the second goal; he had a chance in the final minutes,” argued Allegri. “He was very good. We know the team’s quality, we know we can’t win every game, and we must give consistency to the results.”

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“Today, we could have lost the match, but we took home a draw. Today it seems that we’ve thrown two points away, but in the end, it will prove to be useful.” Gabbia was subbed off with a suspected knee injury in the second half. “Let’s see. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. We’ll see tomorrow, but De Winter and Odogu will be ready to play,” he concluded.

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