Milan won their first game of the new year as they marched past Jose Mourinho’s men.
Milan defeated Roma 3-1 in their Serie A game on Thursday. The Rossoneri secured their third victory in a row by delivering a great performance against the 9-man Roma.
Two red cards!
Milan established their dominance early on as they pushed Roma into their own half of the pitch. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring for Milan in the eighth minute before Junio Messias doubled their lead nine minutes later.
Roma came back into the game with a goal from Tammy Abraham five minutes before the interval. Following a corner from Lorenzo Pellegrini, the former Chelsea made it 2-1 for the Giallorossi after a poor clearance.
Roma continued their efforts to get the equalizer in the first half. However, Milan’s dominance in midfield left them frustrated. Rick Karsdorp took down Theo Hernandez as soon as the Frenchman got behind him. It was enough to convince the referee to give him his second yellow card of the night.
Being a man down, Roma received more pressure from Milan in the final 15 minutes. Following an assist from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Rafael Leao made it 3-1 for the hosts.
Despite their two-goal lead, Milan continued their attacks after the third goal. Roma went down to nine players after Gianluca Mancini received a red card from the referee in the 94th minute. Zlatan had the chance to get his name on the scoreboard by converting a penalty. However, Rui Patricio saved the Swedish striker’s poor low shot.
The victory closes Milan’s gaps with Inter on top of the table to one point. However, Inter are yet to play their 20th game of the campaign. The Rossoneri will face Venezia in their next game on Sunday.
On the other hand, Mourinho’s side slipped to seventh place on the table after their unimpressive display. Next up for Roma is a crucial Serie A match against Juventus.
Player Ratings
Milan: Maignan (7); Florenzi (7), Gabbia (6), Kalulu (7), Hernandez (6); Krunic (6), Tonali (7); Messias (8), Diaz (7), Saelemaekers (6); Giroud (7).
Bench: Ibrahimovic (6), Leao (7), Conti (6), Maldini (5), Bakayoko (6).
Roma: Patricio (6); Mancini (4), Smalling (6), Ibanez (5); Veretout (6); Karsdorp (4), Pellegrini (7), Mkhitaryan (6), Vina (6); Zaniolo (5), Abraham (7).
Bench: Afena-Gyan (5), Shomurodov (5), Perez (6), Shaarawy (6), Cristante (6).
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