AC Milan ran out 2-0 winners over Lazio at the Stadio San Siro in Matchday 7 of Serie A on Saturday, with the Rossoneri battling at the top of the table following another victory.
Second half goals from Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor were enough to overcome an uninspired Biancoceleste and move Milan top, temporarily at least, after five wins from their opening seven games.
With a crunch Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund to come, Milan have hit form again at the right time and moved on from a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of rivals Inter in mid-September.
Pulisic looking at home in Milan
After falling out of favour at Chelsea, USMNT star Pulisic has found a new lease of life since joining Milan in a deal worth up to €22 million in the summer, and continued his impressive form with a coolly taken goal against Lazio.
The attacking midfielder has proven to be an inspired arrival for Milan and has taken to Serie A instantly, with three goals and an assist in his first seven appearances. Pulisic has given the Rossoneri a more influential option behind the strikers and his link up play with compatriot Yunus Musah was particularly impressive.
With a trip to former club Dortmund in the Champions League to come in midweek, Pulisic has regained his form at just the right time and could prove instrumental to Milan’s hopes of challenging for the Serie A title this season, as well as going the distance in Europe.
Milan move on from derby humiliation
The undeniable low point of a good season so far for Milan was the 5-1 defeat to Inter in the Derby della Madonnina on September 16, with the Nerazzurri rampant against their bitter rivals.
Such a heavy defeat in a pivotal match had the potential to completely derail Milan‘s campaign and send them spiralling into a patch of poor form, but instead Stefano Pioli‘s side have bounced back with three convincing Serie A victories.
The Rossoneri looked assured once more against Lazio and are ready to battle Inter at the top of the table as they compete for the scudetto, and this mentality could be of huge importance in the title run-in later in the season.
Long season ahead for Lazio
Rome is far from a happy place for football fans at the moment, with AS Roma in a full-blown crisis and Lazio not far from one. The loss at the San Siro was the Aquile’s fourth from seven Serie A matches and after coming second last term, they could not look further from a title challenger.
Hapless in defence and blunt in attack, Maurizio Sarri‘s side rarely looked like threatening and in the end could not argue with the scoreline, although they brought much of their trouble upon themselves.
Unable to play out from the back, Lazio were caught out in dangerous areas time and again, whilst striker Taty Castellanos was mobile but lacked the shooting ability to test goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
After such a dreadful start to the season, Lazio need to find some consistency and fast if they harbour any ambitions of European qualification, let alone a top four challenge.
