Milan-Lecce 1-0
GOALS: 31’st Füllkrug.
MILAN (3-5-2): Maignan 6; Tomori 6.5, Gabbia 7, De Winter 6; Saelemaekers 7 (35’st Athekame sv), Ricci 6 (28’st Loftus-Cheek sv), Jashari 6 (42’st Modric sv), Rabiot 6.5, Estupiñan 5; Pulisic 5.5 (28’st Füllkrug 7.5), Leao 6 (42’st Nkunku sv). On the bench: Terracciano, Torriani, Bartesaghi, Odogu, Pavlovic, Y. Fofana. Coach: Allegri 6.5.
LECCE (4-3-3): Falcone 8; Ndaba 6, Siebert 6, Tiago Gabriel 5.5, Gallo 5.5 (40’st N’Dri sv); Gandelman 5.5, Ramadani 5 (40’st Maleh sv), Coulibaly 5.5; Sottil 5.5 (9’st Banda 5.5), Stulic 5.5 (24’st Morente 6), Pierotti 5. On the bench: Fruchtl, Samooja, Jean, Kouassi, Pérez, M. Fofana, Helgason, Kaba, Marchwinski, Ngom, Sala. Coach: Di Francesco 5.5.
REFEREE: Zufferli of Udine 6.
NOTES: overcast skies, pitch in good condition. Booked: De Winter, Ramadani. Corners 10-2. Recovery 1′ st, 4′ st.
Milan undermined Lecce’s fort and prevailed 1-0 in Sunday’s postponement. It was Füllkrug’s first goal in Italy, initially on the bench, to give a precious victory to Maignan and his teammates. The first opportunity is for the hosts and arrives in the 6th minute. Ricci widens on the right for Saelemaekers, who takes the ball to the left and tries to return it with a shot but the ball goes wide. The Belgian is the most active of his team and in the 34th minute he enters the area for Pulisic who, from a tight angle, tries with a right-footed shot to the near post which Falcone saves for a corner with his feet. The first half ends without further shocks and the two teams go to half-time at 0-0. In the second half, Gabbia was the first to try at the 8th minute with a shot that ended high. Four minutes later, it took a super Falcone to save his team with a diving save at the near post that denied Ricci the joy of scoring. In the 17th minute, Leao sent Pulisic towards goal with a delightful first touch but the American’s close-range right-footed shot was blocked by another super diving save on his left.
In the 28th minute, the usual Falcone throws himself into the fray on the newly introduced Füllkrug and prevents him from finishing on goal from a few steps away. The German entered the game in a big way and, in the 31st minute, broke the deadlock. Gabbia launches Saelemaekers on the right, the Belgian passes a great ball into the middle and Füllkrug heads in to make it 1-0, scoring his first goal with the new shirt. In the final, the Salento team failed to worry Maignan and indeed in full injury time there was still time for a miracle from Falcone on Nkunku, with the result that will never change again. Milan take three fundamental points and move back to -3 behind leaders Inter. The Giallorossi, however, remain in third-to-last place with 17 points, equal to Fiorentina.