AC Milan strengthened their standing in Serie A’s top three as they edged out a resilient Sassuolo with a 1-0 victory. Christian Pulisic’s second-half strike was enough to earn his side a fourth straight home win, whereas Alessio Dionisi’s side are now on a run of five without a victory.Stefano Pioli’s squad started strongly, with Tijjani Reijnders’ long-range piledriver expertly saved, just seconds before Ismaël Bennacer had a goal chalked off for an offside against Olivier Giroud, who had crossed the ball into the box. The Algerian had another go as the half wore on, wriggling into space outside the area before firing into the side netting, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek clattered high and wide from a similar distance.Christian Pulisic is AC Milan’s top rated player this season, per FotMob 🇺🇸He’s got five goal contributions in six matches in December for AC Milan.Six goals and four assists in 16 Serie A matches.What a signing he’s been for the Rossoneri ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/oTlqBFIVYu— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) December 30, 2023 The chances continued to come, although Rafael Leão’s desperate 10-game drought in the league went on as his strike was also ruled out for offside. At the other end, Domenico Berardi had a thunderbolt superbly tipped over the bar by Mike Maignan, who also comfortably caught Nedim Bajrami’s low effort, as the visitors, without a clean sheet in 25 top-flight outings, escaped to the break with the deadlock yet to be broken.Nerazzurri did not need this – stubborn Genoa keep a point at their groundIndeed, Sassuolo had well and truly grown into the game and had another terrific chance to take the lead after halftime when Jeremy Toljan cut inside and aimed for the top corner, only to be thwarted by Maignan. Their hopes of ending their barren run were hit by a sucker-punch when Milan took the lead just before the hour mark though, as Ruan Tressoldi failed to cut out Bennacer’s defence-splitting pass, meaning Pulisic could convert from close range.
Undeterred, Neroverdi’s hunt for an equaliser saw Armand Laurienté surge forward and have a fierce low strike saved. The hosts always looked more likely to find the next goal though, and Alessandro Florenzi was unlucky to see a dipping 25-yard effort drop onto the roof of the net. That miss mattered not, with Milan registering another San Siro clean sheet as they continue to have the best defensive home record in Serie A, whereas their opponents are dangling precariously above the relegation zone.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 18FridayFiorentina – Torino 1-0 (0-0)/Ranieri 83/Napoli – Monza 0-0Genoa – Inter 1-1 (1-1)/Dragusin 45+7 – Arnautovic 42/Lazio – Frosinone 3-1 (0-0)/Castellanos 70, Isaksen 72, Patric 84 – Soule 58 pen/SaturdayAtalanta – Lecce 1-0 (0-0)/Lookman 58/Cagliari – Empoli 0-0Udinese – Bologna 3-0 (1-0)/Pereyra 23, Lucca 48, Payero 52/AC Milan – Sassuolo 1-0 (0-0)/Pulisic 58/Verona – Salernitana 0-1 (0-0)/Tchaouna 48/22:45: (2.10) Juventus (3.20) Roma (3.80)***odds are subject to change***