Messias fires Milan beyond Monza, upto third

AC Milan’s recovery from a poor start to the year was continued by Junior Messias, who scored the only goal in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Monza. This moved them up to third place in Serie A.

Milan’s season is slipping back into gear, and Brazilian Messias hit a powerful strike from outside the area in the 31st minutes to win the points at U-Power Stadium.

Stefano Pioli’s side has now won the third league match since the start of the new year. He is currently level with Inter Milan on 44 points.

After Friday’s 2-0 victory at Sassuolo, both Milan giants trail Napoli by 18 points.

Milan’s victory against Lombardy rivals on Saturday was Milan’s third consecutive win in all competitions, coming after Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win against Tottenham Hotspur.

Monza’s unbeaten record ended at eight matches. Monza dropped to 11th place due to Bologna’s late 2-1 win against struggling Sampdoria on Saturday.

Milan were not at their best, but Milan could have won by more. Michele Di Gregorio was forced to make a series to save Messias’s third league goal.

Rafael Leao made a speculative attempt at the post in 19 minutes. Six minutes later, his weak finish at a counter-attack was pushed by Di Gregorio. He then had to pounce on Brahim Diaz to stop him scoring on the round.

Tomori forced Di Gregorio into another good save, with a snap shot just prior to the half-hour mark. However, Theo Hernandez in 56th minutes wasted the best chance.

Leao sent Leao’s France left-back rushing through but he misdirected him into the side netting.

Milan then had to weather a late Monza storm as Patrick Ciurria struck a low shot off the post before Di Gregorio kept out Sandro Tonali and Matteo Pessina denied struggling summer signing Charles De Ketelaere.

td/iwd

Previous post Vandals hack and pour bleach on gran’s memorial tree
Next post Heybike is pleased to announce Tyson E-bike’s launch