Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 5:18 PM• Jordi Tomasowa

AC Milan have done excellent business in the hunt for the league title in Italy by putting Fiorentina, where Sofyan Amrabat had a starting place, aside at home. AC Milan has thus increased the gap compared to the big competitor Internazionale to five points. Inter will visit Udinese on Saturday evening at six o’clock and can reduce the gap to two points with a win.

Both teams went looking for a goal early on and that made for an entertaining opening phase, where there were chances to score from both sides. Theo Hernández appeared to give AC Milan the lead after six minutes by making a devastating strike with the right from inside the penalty area, but his goal was disallowed for offside. AC Milan could breathe a sigh of relief a few minutes later when Igor’s shot just missed the goal. Hernández had a good opportunity on the other side, but worked the ball into the side net. After fifteen minutes of play, striker Olivier Giroud had to score, but the Frenchman knocked a pass from Frank Kessié somewhat laconically beside the post. Riccardo Saponara then failed to surprise Mike Maignan with a shot from a distance. Brahim Díaz was given complete freedom from Fiorentina after more than twenty minutes, but the attacker decided to go for a pass instead of the shot on goal. Nicolás González saw his shot blocked just in time by a defender.

AC Milan insisted more and more after more than twenty minutes of play, but was sloppy in the final phase. In the second instance, Calabria drove the ball far over the goal of goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano in a promising position. AC Milan picked up where they left off early in the second half by missing out on great opportunities. Rafeal Leão, for example, got the ball at his feet with a bit of luck, but he shot hopelessly over from about six meters, Kessié was unable to find the net from close by with his left and Hernández did not score a goal a minute later. Ante Rebic, who came in just before that, missed a great opportunity after just under an hour by shooting wide of the goal. However, according to the linesman, the Croat did this in an offside position. With the introduction of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who replaced Giroud, Stefano Poli hoped to take the win after all, but on the other side saw Fiorentina emerge with a good chance out of nowhere. Cristiano Biraghi appeared dangerously in front of the Milan goal, but saw Maignan turn his effort with an excellent save.

AC Milan then hoped in vain for a penalty after the ball hit the arm of a Fiorentina player from a corner. With ten minutes to go, time started to run out for AC Milan, but the home side was helped a lot by Terracciano. The keeper choked on a kick and saw it end up in Leão’s feet. The Portuguese didn’t think twice, took a shot, and saw his shot through Nikola Milenkovic end up in the goal: 1-0. Fiorentina went looking for the equalizer, but it was the home team with the opportunities. The AC Milan attackers, however, were sloppy with the space offered, which kept the Milanese squeezing until the last second. The home team held on and has come one step closer to the title.