Milan’s title aspirations have taken another hit, as the Rossoneri failed to beat Cremonese at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.
Although Milan had most of possesion in the early stages, they failed to trouble the home side because of the slow tempo. Milan finally got closer to Cremonese’s goal after 23 minutes. Junior Messias received the ball on the edge of the box and crossed it towards Brahim Díaz, who’s effort went over. Only a few minutes later, Sandro Tonali’s cross was met by Ante Rebić, who was left unmarked in the box. The Croatian winger headed it wide, but should undoubtely have done more with the opportunity.
Milan’s chances followed each other up quickly at this point. Rebić gave it to Divock Origi who came eye to eye with Marco Carnessechi, but the Atalanta loanee made a fine foot save. Ten minutes before half-time, Malick Thiaw almost marked his debut in the starting eleven with a goal, but again it was Carnessechi who denied Milan. That wasn’t it yet, as he also pushed away Messias’ attempt shortly after.
After the break, it looked like Milan finally beat Carnesecchi. The ball fell to Origi with some luck and the Belgian scored, but VAR intervened and cancelled the goal for offside.
Substitute Leão also came close to a goal when his cross turned into a shot after Messias failed to connect with it. Of course, Carnessechi was there with another save. That also was Milan’s last attempt that really troubled the defence of the Grigiorosi. Stefano Pioli tried desparetely to get the three points in the latter stages of the match and even brought on Marko Lazetic. The 18-year-old had just scored a hattrick for the Primavera last Saturday.
The young Serbian could not change the outcome of the game. This draw means that Milan’s gap to Napoli grows to 8 points before the World Cup break. Cremonese will be happy with their 7th draw of the season, which sees them remain 18th and go 1 point clear of Sampdoria.
Player Ratings
Milan:
Tatarusanu (6); Thiaw (6.5), Tomori (6.5), Kjaer (6), Ballo-Touré (6); Tonali (6), Bennancer (6); Messias (5.5), Díaz (5.5), Rebić (5.5); Origi (6).
Substitutes: Leão (5.5), Kalulu (6), De Ketelaere (5), Lazetić (N/A), Krunić (N/A)
Cremonese:
Carnesecchi (8); Aiwu (6.5), Bianchetti (6), Vasquez (6.5); Ghiglione (6), Escalante (6), Castagnetti (6), Meïté (6.5), Valeri (6); Ciofani (5.5), Afena-Gyan (5).
Substitutes: Sernicola (5.5), Buonaiuto (6), Okereke (6), Pickel (6), Quagliata (N/A)
GIFN | Jurre van Wanrooij
