The Sergio Conceicao effect is already wearing off, as Milan were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Cagliari, with Mike Maignan’s howler cancelling out the Alvaro Morata goal.
The Rossoneri made the perfect start to life under Conceicao, beating Juventus and Inter to lift the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh, so this was his Serie A debut after replacing Paulo Fonseca on December 30. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Samuel Chukwueze and Alessandro Florenzi were injured, plus Emerson Royal suspended and Noah Okafor transfer-listed, but Rafael Leao returned to full fitness. The Sardinians, who drew 3-3 with Milan in November, missed Zito Luvumbo and Yerry Mina, but threw Elia Caprile straight into the starting XI after his transfer from Napoli.
See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.
Nicolas Viola attempted an acrobatic finish as Gabriele Zappa stood up a dangerous ball, while Theo Hernandez saw his strike deflected off target, Rafael Leao and Tijjani Reijnders firing straight at debutant Caprile.
Davide Calabria had to time his sliding tackle perfectly to prevent a Viola tap-in on the Nadir Zortea roll across the face of goal from the right flank.
Mattia Felici went on a strong run forward and his right-foot curler was arrowing its way into the far top corner until Mike Maignan flew to claw it away with a sensational save.
Milan almost scored within seconds of the restart, as a free kick was cleared to the edge of the area where Christian Pulisic controlled with his left foot and shot with his right, thumping the crossbar.
Pulisic hit the frame of the goal again with a right-foot volley on the Theo Hernandez ball floated over the top, as it thumped the base of the near post and Morata was quicker than Jose Luis Palomino on the rebound.
It did not last long, because Felici went on another strong run from midfield after Youssouf Fofana’s error and found Nadir Zortea, whose scuffed finish from the edge of the area surprised Maignan to squirm into the far bottom corner. It was a rare and unexpected howler from the goalkeeper.
Caprile made a huge save when Pulisic was sent clear on goal by Leao, then got down to parry a Theo Hernandez snapshot, but Tammy Abraham turned the Alex Jimenez cross over from a couple of yards, having mistimed the run.
Abraham wasted another golden opportunity moments later, springing the offside trap on a long ball and denied one-on-one by Caprile.
The former Napoli goalkeeper also rushed off his line to smother at the feet of Alex Jimenez and blocked at the near post when debutant Bob Omoregbe pulled back from the by-line for Abraham.
With the last kick of the game, Reijnders touched on a free kick for the ferocious Theo Hernandez strike, again denied by Caprile.
Milan 1-1 Cagliari
Morata 51 (M), Zortea 55 (C)
Player statistic
| 41' |  |
Mattia Felici |
| Álvaro Morata |  |
51' | ||
| 55' | |
Nadir Zortea (Assist: Mattia Felici) | ||
| Álex Jiménez | |
82' | ||
| 90+1' | |
Roberto Piccoli |
Match statistic
I saw that coming the moment the game vs Inter finished. I knew they’d drop points tonight. Too predictable.
No cigars and dancing tonight only smashed tv lol . Champions of arabia🤣🤣🤣🤣