Milan completed an extraordinary comeback from 2-0 down after 24 minutes to win 3-2 with Olivier Giroud, Franck Kessie and a bizarre Koray Gunter own goal.
The Rossoneri lost Theo Hernandez and Brahim Diaz to COVID-19, already decimated by injuries to Mike Maignan, Alessandro Plizzari, Alessandro Florenzi, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Junior Messias, but Olivier Giroud was back in the starting XI and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench. Verona were unbeaten since Igor Tudor took over, with two wins and two draws, and Miguel Veloso returned from his long lay-off while ex-Milan flop Nikola Kalinic was given the nod.
Ciprian Tatarusanu has to take the gloves, with Maignan out for three months following wrist surgery, and made his first save on Ivan Ilic at the near post.
He was beaten one-on-one by Gianluca Caprari, as Miguel Veloso pounced on a poor clearance and knocked it back between the centre-backs, Caprari reacting quicker to finish it off.
Daniel Maldini’s spectacular volley was over from an Ante Rebic cross, while Kalinic prodded wide from close range on a Darko Lazovic pull-back.
Verona doubled their lead, as it was rolled across for Kalinic, who collided with Alessio Romagnoli, the referee pointing to the spot. It seemed unclear if there had been a foul, or if Kalinic got there first, but Antonin Barak converted into the near bottom corner, despite Tatarusanu guessing the right side.
The injury list grew even more for Stefano Pioli, as Rebic limped off after just 35 minutes with a muscular issue.
Milan had timid penalty appeals after the restart, but the ball bounced off one Verona player’s leg and hit another on the hand, so was considered a ricochet.
They began to pin Verona back into their own final third and got a goal back with Rafael Leao’s cross from the left for a Giroud header from six yards. The Portuguese forward twisted and turned his marker to get the ball in.
Leao grazed the crossbar with a curler and then his back-heel flick was for Samu Castillejo, who got sandwiched between two Verona defenders. The referee awarded another penalty, which like the one on Kalinic, was far from clear-cut. Franck Kessie stepped up and converted to equalise.
It still wasn’t over, as Milan completed the comeback moments later to lead 3-2, as Castillejo’s cross seemed simple enough, but Koray Gunter got into a tangle with his own feet when trying to clear from six yards and somehow kicked it into his own net instead.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his return from injury, but Tatarusanu needed a fingertip save on Barak after a cheeky dummy from Marco Davide Faraoni.
Ibrahimovic’s effort was deflected wide and he also attempted a bicycle-kick, while Giovanni Simeone’s header was straight at Tatarusanu in stoppages.
Milan 3-2 Verona
Caprari 7 (V), Barak pen 24 (V), Giroud 59 (M), Kessie pen 76 (M), Gunter og 78 (M)
So many awful penalty decisions again in Serie A today (and some equally bad camera angles for the replays). I don’t want to see any of those penalties given today and I’m a Milan fan, Italy is lagging behind in refereeing and var implementation these days.