2023-12-17 16:22:57
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 38 minutes ago, Updated now
AC Milan consolidated its 3rd place. MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
AC Milan digested their elimination from the Champions League well by dominating Monza 3-0 on Sunday during the 16th day of the Italian Championship.
The 70,500 spectators at San Siro only had to wait three minutes to see Milan take the lead thanks to a personal exploit from the Dutchman Tijjani Reijnders. Coming into play to replace Tommasso Pobega, Jan-Carlo Simic is not ready to forget his great debut in Serie A: the 18-year-old Serbian defender doubled the score just before the break (42nd) by taking a cross by Rafael Leao.
“It’s a dream to play your first Serie A match and score a goal, but the most important thing is to have helped the team win this match”underlined Simic at the microphone of the DAZN platform. “I felt ready to play this match, the coach had warned me that it was possible that I could play. I remained focused, even after my goal,” he added.
Winner at Newcastle (2-1) on Wednesday in C1 but transferred to the Europa League, the Lombard club was shaken up at the start of the second half: its French goalkeeper Mike Maignan notably intervened against Andrea Colpani, although alone in front of the goal ( 61st). Stefano Pioli’s players turned their backs and definitely disgusted Monza in the 76th minute with a combination in the area between Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud concluded by Noah Okafor.
“It was important to win this match, we did it in style. We now have two months ahead of us to focus exclusively on the championship. Pioli pointed out. “We learned a lot during this Champions League, we are a young team, with a lot of potential”he noted.
AC Milan, which remained in the league with a defeat (3-2) on the field of Atalanta, consolidated its 3rd place (32 pts), five lengths behind Juventus Turin (37 pts), held in check by Genoa (1-1) Friday. Inter Milan, championship leader with 38 points, faces Lazio on Sunday evening (8:45 p.m.) at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
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