Yahoo Sports AC Milan 1-1 Roma: Reijnders goal not enough as Rossoneri end 2024 with draw
AC Milan were forced to accept a share of the spoils to end the calendar year, playing out a 1-1 draw with Roma at San Siro.
It looked like things were going the right way for Milan when Tijjani Reijnders fired in a pass from Youssouf Fofana’s feed, though Roma got themselves back on terms not long after through Paulo Dybala’s volley.
Both sides squandered chances to take control of the game and the end result was a point that probably means very little for two teams who find themselves far away from the places they want to be.
The build-up to the game was nothing short of bizarre as reports emerged moments before kick-off suggesting that Paulo Fonseca might be taking charge of his last Milan game. If it was to be his last line-up named, he made two changes to the line-up with Theo Hernandez and Alvaro Morata starting.
The first half-chance of the game went to the away side as Paulo Dybala found space to fire from the left edge of the box, finding Mike Maignan’s grateful arms. At the other end Alex Jimenez led a fantastic break in which he dribbled past Manu Kone and was tripped, earning the midfielder an early yellow card.
Tijjani Reijnders wasn’t too far off giving Milan the lead from the resulting free-kick. Around 25 yards out Theo laid it off to the Dutchman, who hit a rising shot through the wall that Mile Svilar just about managed to parry clear with Morata lurking.
Roma were then inches away from going a goal up and it was a lovely flowing move on the edge of the area, seeing Artem Dovbyk combine with the Milan loanee Alexis Saelemaekers and hit the base of the post with a shot on the turn that had Maignan beaten.
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With just over 15 minutes on the clock, Milan got themselves into the lead with a lethal counter-attack. Youssouf Fofana started it by breaking out of the press from his own half, finding Morata who had drifted to the left. The Frenchman collected the pass back to him and squared to Reijnders, who fired in calmly for his ninth goal of the season.
Just a couple of minutes after taking the lead, the Rossoneri really should have doubled their lead with what was another counter where they had numbers in their favour. Reijnders led it this time down the middle and fed Jimenez, whose low ball to the near post was flicked wide by Morata from close range.
In the 23rd minute, Roma drew themselves level and it was perhaps against the run of play. A pass into Dovbyk from outside the box was backheel flicked first time by the striker into the path of Dybala, who finished with a beautiful right-footed volley where Maignan was again left rooted to his spot.
Any order in the game was completely lost by the referee Michele Fabbri, who had given out some early bookings to set the tone and then proceeded to show zero command over things.
The Milan players were convinced Reijnders had been slid through by Pisilli inside the box, yet he gave no penalty, sending off Paulo Fonseca for protesting, as well as booking Theo and Morata.
The intense end-to-end nature of the game continued and when Roma gave up possession near the edge of their own box it looked like Samuel Chukwueze could find a man with a deep cross for an easy finish, though it was heroically blocked onto the roof of the net.
A change was made at half-time as Ismael Bennacer came on for Filippo Terracciano. The Algerian had not played an official match since August 17, the first game of the season against Torino.
Milan’s first opportunity of the second half fell to Fofana after a corner was aimed at the near post and rattled around before falling to the midfielder who hooked over the bar with his back to goal from a few yards out.
Milan continued to push to get themselves back in front and they came close twice in quick succession, firstly through Bennacer who forced a save from Svilar and then from Chukwueze whose curling attempt was stopped as well.
There was a worrying moment for Chukwueze not long after the aforementioned attempt as he fell to the floor clutching his hamstring. He immediately requested a change, with Tammy Abraham taking his place.
The wide-open nature of the game persisted, with Theo perhaps having should have done better after going on a typical lung-busting run from left-back deep into the box but failing get a powerful shot off. At the other end Dovbyk had a one-on-one effort stopped by Maignan though he was offside.
Roma had a couple of moments inside the final 10 minutes, like when Fofana provided a brilliant block to halt a rocket of a shot from Dybala, then Maignan saved well from Stephan El Shaarawy’s shot that was heading for the top corner.
With five minutes left on the clock, another change to the attack was made with Francesco Camarda replacing Morata and partnering Abraham up top.
Lorenzo Pellegrini could have been the hero off the bench when he collected a lovely through ball from Dybala and was bearing down on goal, yet he couldn’t quite stab it goalwards under pressure from Jimenez.
