Milan have won their first Serie A title since 2010-11 after a dominant performance away to Sassuolo, with a hat-trick of Rafael Leao assists for Olivier Giroud’s brace and Franck Kessie.
The Rossoneri knew a point at the Mapei Stadium would be enough to secure the Serie A title, as they had a superior head-to-head record with arch-rivals Inter and a two-point lead going into the final round. Simon Kjaer was the only absentee, while the Neroverdi missed Jeremy Toljan and Pedro Obiang. Over 18,000 Milan fans were in Reggio Emilia, so it felt like a home match.
Olivier Giroud got his head to a free kick, but Andrea Consigli’s save was equal to it, then a flurry of opportunities in the space of a few minutes. Ferrari flung himself in the way to stop Rafael Leao scoring clear on goal, then on the corner Fikayo Tomori tried to chest it in only to be denied by a Maxime Lopez goal-line clearance.
Serie A Liveblog: Milan-Sassuolo, Inter-Samp, Salernitana-Udinese, Venezia-Cagliari
Alexis Saelemaekers and Leao forced more saves from Consigli, but they got the breakthrough after 17 minutes.
Leao harassed Kaan Ayhan into losing possession, then shrugged him off again on the run, the pull-back for Giroud took a deflection, but the Frenchman still swept the ball through the legs of both Ferrari and Consigli from 10 yards.
Consigli flew to palm a Sandro Tonali scorcher out from under the crossbar, then parried both an Alexis Saelemaekers half-volley and the Theo Hernandez follow-up.
The second goal arrived when Leao again robbed a defender, this time Ferrari in the box, and pulled back from the by-line for Giroud to once more fire in from 10 yards.
The third goal came from the right flank with Rade Krunic stealing it from Maxime Lopez, but it was yet another Leao assist from the by-line, this time for Franck Kessie to sweep in with the inside of his left boot from eight yards.
Mike Maignan’s first real save was a huge one, getting down to claw away Davide Frattesi’s glancing header from a free kick at the far bottom corner.
The second half was mainly just controlling the situation, though Berardi was the last to give in and had to come off with a groin strain.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic also made a cameo appearance off the bench and had the ball in the net from what would’ve been a fourth Leao assist, but this time the Portuguese winger was offside.
Hamed Traore almost got a consolation goal in the final minutes, but his strike bounced off the base of the upright, while Davide Calabria forced a save from point-blank range on another Leao assist.
It is the first Milan title for 11 years, but also the first time Stefano Pioli has won any silverware as a coach.
Sassuolo 0-3 Milan
Giroud 17, 32 (M), Kessie 36 (M)
Forza Milaaan!!!
Milan 1 Calhanoglu 0
Grande Pioli I am so so proud of the boys. Shame as we should have been adding the second star, but now we cannot rest and must build on this. We can never go that length of time without winning but for now let us savour this moment. About damn time we added the flag to our glorious shirt.
Juve era = 9 scudettos
Inter era = 1 scudetto
Milan era = ? scudettos
@Many wise guys
C’mon, 1.5 for Inter as Winter Champions
Congrats to Milan and many thanks for taking that title away from inter.
As long as Inter didn’t win it, I’m happy 😊 congratulations AC
Forget about the past. It looks like many PhD Max pantyhose fan girls are either trying to belittle the great Milan or trying to jump on their success today. A new era has begun and the title will stay in Milano for many years going back and forth, as PhD Max has already taken Juve out of the equation. The only era Omicron 2.0 Slow has created is the one of the legendary back, back, down, down 0 shots on goal against Fiorentina lol.
It’s been a hard 10 years.
Congratulations to AC, as the powers to be in the Italian federation really stacked the deck from the beginning in favor of Inter, but let’s us be realistic Inter and Juve only have domestic economic dominance, AC and Napoli are light years ahead with personel
@Lord – you’re not great at predictions, just like this year. Your wonderfully attacking Inzaghi couldn’t build on Conte so I guess it’s not that easy after all. Congrats to Milan for being most consistent but now it’ll be important for them to build a lot because Juve are coming back. Inter‘s cycle already ended. Enjoy that. Our cycles last a decade, not one season. Just like your one term orange man. Lol.
Ps. I didn’t make the earlier post. Shows how much of a loser Lord is. You can argue with yourself all you want, the facts are on the pitch. Milan won fairly and Inter tripped themselves up over their clown shoes.
11 years was too long but I am proud of these lads because no one really believed in them and yet they did it… Inter fans must be crying now because Izaghi kept giving them hope😂😂😂 Hakan will not be concerned, He’s been Winter champion twice already without the Trophy.. His bad luck probably cost us the trophy last season 😂😂😂 Happy crying day to Inter fans😂
Inter who? 😂😂 campione campione ale ale ale…milan is officially red and black forza milan
wholehearted congratulations to Milan from Juve fan.
This is coming from a Juve fan but you can tell Football Italia is run by Interisti. Where’s the big headline of Milan being champions?? When it was Inter, it was posted immediately. Vergogna.
Mr. Fish and Chips, jellied eels and tea cake scones, I am not an Inter fan Sherlock. Neither am I am Juve hater. The clue is in the fact that I never put an “R” or a “B” in their name. One thing is clear deluded pantyhose British jammie dodgers like you think next year is the year of the PhD. 4th spot again and Fiorentina showed you how far you have fallen. It was a nothing game with no pressure and 11 zombies still could not get 1 shot on goal, let alone on target. Now innit time for some lady grey and a tea break. The 20th of the day. Do not worry son 2024 he is coming back my little woke snowflake.
Alwyswithyou Macmillan forlife
Deserved title for Milan over the course of the season.
Not a huge amount of talent in the top teams in Serie A, but Milan were the grittiest of the lot. Inter had a bad spell a few months ago, Napoli bottled it a few weeks ago, and Juve have their worst squad in over a decade.
Let’s see if this 4 can do anything in Europe for a change. Seems as though the CL is way beyond the grasp of any Serie A side at the moment.