Milan crumbled in a 2-0 defeat to Sassuolo when down to 10 men for over an hour due to Fikayo Tomori’s red card, as Domenico Berardi and Armand Laurienté scored.
The Rossoneri could catch Napoli in second place with a victory and consolidate the Champions League spot, but Luka Modric’s season was over after surgery for a fractured cheekbone. Ardon Jashari stepped in, with Christopher Nkunku pushing off-form Christian Pulisic to the bench. Domenico Berardi was back after a two-match ban for the Neroverdi, though Darryl Bakola, Fali Cande, Daniel Boloca and Edoardo Pieragnolo were injured.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
It took under five minutes for Berardi to confirm his extraordinary record against Milan, as this was his 12th career goal past them. Kristian Thorstvedt robbed Jashari in midfield and it was quickly moved left to right, for Berardi to bend a first-time finish into the far bottom corner with the inside of the left foot.
Moments later, Mike Maignan made a one-handed save on the M’Bala Nzola counter-attack, while both teams had penalty appeals waved away as Berardi had his arm behind his back, then Armand Laurienté went down too easily under pressure from Matteo Gabbia, the same with Christopher Nkunku at the other end.
Rafael Leao wasted a golden opportunity when blasting wide with only the goalkeeper to beat after a defensive error sent him clear on goal.
Things went from bad to worse for Milan, as Fikayo Tomori brought down Laurienté on the counter for his second yellow card, leaving his team down to 10 for over an hour.
Strahinja Pavlovic made a decisive block on Thorstvedt and Jay Idzes limped off injured, while Alexis Saelemaekers drilled wide.
Sassuolo doubled their lead within 90 seconds of the restart, as Laurienté completed a give and go with Thorstvedt just inside the area, the finish thumped low and hard into the near bottom corner.
Zachary Athekame fired over, while Nzola and Thorstvedt failed to keep their efforts on target, while both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alieu Fadera were booked for simulation in the box.
This result means that with a victory over Verona today, Juventus could catch Milan in joint third place, while they have failed to score in five of the last seven games.
Sassuolo 2-0 Milan
Berardi 5 (S), Laurienté 47 (S)
Sent off: Tomori 24 (M)
Player statistic
| Domenico Berardi (Assist: Armand Lauriente) |
 |
5' | ||
| 9' |  |
Fikayo Tomori | ||
| 24' |  |
Fikayo Tomori | ||
| Nemanja Matic | |
38' |
| Armand Lauriente (Assist: Kristian Thorstvedt) |
|
47' | ||
| Ulisses Garcia | |
57' | ||
| 71' | |
Samuele Ricci | ||
| 77' | |
Ruben Loftus-Cheek | ||
| Cristian Volpato | |
89' | ||
| Alieu Fadera | |
90+4' |
Match statistic
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