Tijjani Reijnders' second-half goal proved decisive as Milan moved to a 1-0 win over Verona in a closely contested Serie A match on Friday.
After failing to win their last two league games, Milan moved up to seventh place with a much-needed three points.
The visitors struggled to find their rhythm in the first half and almost fell behind when Tomas Suslov pounced on Samuel Chukwueze's loose pass before forcing Mike Maignan into a low save.
Fonseca then suffered an injury when Rafael Leao had to leave before half-time with what appeared to be a muscle problem.
However, Milan finally found a breakthrough in the 56th minute when Reijnders made a well-timed run to evade the defense before expertly guiding a first-time shot into the top corner.
Despite a spirited performance, Verona could not find a late equalizer and remained one place and one point above the relegation zone.
Victory in Verona #VeronaMilan #SempreMilan Brought to you by @Bitpanda_global pic.twitter.com/2FdaxxvyDw
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 20, 2024
Data debriefing: making a difference
After Milan's goalless draw against Genoa last weekend caused some of the fans' frustration to boil over, the Rossoneri went into the Christmas holidays with three points thanks to Reijnders.
The Dutchman has now scored four goals in fifteen games this season, his joint most goals in a single season in the top ten European leagues (four in 33 games for AZ in 2021-2022).
After conceding two goals in each of their first three league matches this season, Milan have now kept a clean sheet in eight of their last 12 Serie A matches, while only Napoli (nine) and Juventus (10) have kept more this season.
However, their defense deserves praise as they limited Verona to just 0.8 expected goals (xG), with only two of their ten shots hitting the target.
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