The Rossoneri get back on track after the draw with Sassuolo and the disappointment in the Super Cup. Pulisic opens the scoring, then the Frenchman steps up to seal the win and score his first league goals. The Rossoneri are provisionally top of the table pending Inter’s result
What a city, Milan: you can even find psychologists willing to stay open on Sunday mornings during the holidays. Milan-Verona ends 3-0, Milan is first pending Inter’s result, but the big story of the day is the revitalizing treatment for Christopher Nkunku, who at 1:40 p.m. was a forward in the midst of an identity crisis, at 1:43 p.m. scored a penalty kindly gifted by Max Allegri, at 1:45 p.m. he was celebrated by his teammates, and at 1:48 p.m. he scored again, outpacing the entire Verona defense. The question is more than legitimate: would the disheartened Christopher from the first half have gone for that ball with the same determination?
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THE GOALS – A summary of the goals, to set the record straight. The lead came in the 46th minute, just before halftime. The first half had ended when Modric took a corner from the right. Anyone not rushing to the bar for halftime counted the shots on goal, and it was easy: 0-0. A disappointment. And yet… Luka crosses as he knows how, Rabiot jumps over Al-Musrati and flicks it toward Pulisic. Oyegoke chooses to cover the goal, so CP11—all alone—taps it in. A true striker’s goal, the kind Milan has been missing for a long time. The second goal is a gift from Nelsson, who, one minute into the second half, in the box, knocks Nkunku off balance in a harmless situation. Fabbri calls a penalty, and Allegri, from the bench, says, “Christopher, take it.” A motivational moment follows, in which Pulisic and Modric go to the Frenchman, leave the ball with him, and talk to him. Nkunku, calm, curls in the first goal of his Serie A career. Five minutes later, in the 8th minute, it’s 3-0. Modric shoots with his left foot from outside the box, Montipò deflects it onto the post, and on the rebound, Nkunku is much quicker on the ball than Bella-Kotchap, who had a three-meter advantage but held back. ​
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​WHAT A MATCH IT WAS – The match—politics aside—was boring in the first half. Slow pace, Milan with 60% possession but few ideas and a couple of counterattacks handled poorly “technically,” as Allegri would say. Chances: two. In the 20th minute, a stop-and-shoot by Loftus-Cheek was deflected by Niasse, just wide, and in the 28th minute, a low, hard cross from Rabiot saw Nkunku misread the timing: he started late and didn’t get there in time. Verona played their game until the 45th minute, then Rabiot and Pulisic turned the game around with a goal, and from there it was all over. Nelsson was too naive, and Verona was too weak offensively, rotating their forwards to no avail: in the first half, Mosquera was slow and out of shape, Giovane was more active but lacked spark; in the second, Sarr was out of the game and Orban managed nothing more than a weak shot.
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​MILAN: MODRIC AND PULISIC – Milan were clinical and solid at the back, with Pavlovic very precise. They scored the second goal first, then the third, and yes, after the penalty, Nkunku finally broke the goal drought—a streak that had been gathering dust since the goal against Lecce, more than three months ago. At that point, Modric played a brilliant no-look pass to Rabiot—the stadium, recalling Pirlo and perhaps Rivera, was moved—and Loftus-Cheek came close to making it 4-0, shooting at Montipò from a beautiful pass by Nkunku, who was even playing the role of creative playmaker. What remains of the final minutes? The standing ovation for Modric, who came off with 20 minutes to go, Odogu’s debut on the right wing, and a goal disallowed for Orban due to offside. If you’re interested in two stats, here they are: Milan won their tenth straight game against Verona, who extended their streak of matches played at San Siro in Serie A without a win to 68. As for Milan, they end the year as a Scudetto contender and perhaps even as league leaders, if Atalanta lends a hand. Nkunku is doing well, everyone is doing well, but first and foremost, thank Pulisic, who once again broke the deadlock today. If you’re torn between envying his bank account or his rumored girlfriend, better to choose his brain and his work ethic: they’re those of a champion.