Milan coach Stefano Pioli will have to think long and hard about this. The Italian strategist had a chance tonight to move to the second place in Serie A and surpass Juventus but instead gambled with too many changes in the starting line-up and lost 4-2 against minors Monza. Pioli wanted to rest his main players ahead of the second match in the Europa League against Rennes, but the decision was odd, since the game is on Thursday and Rossonerri already won in the first leg 3-0. However, Pioli mixed the team, left out his front three attackers and in the 47th minute was down 2-0. Milan managed to came back to 2-2 with ten men, only to concede two more goals in injury time and colapse to a 4-2 defeat.
Monza come into this game off the back of two nil-nil draws, the host being one of the lowest scorers in the division with just 21 goals, but the guests tonight allowed them to score four goals and ruined their good run in form (five wins from their six Serie A games). The first shock came in the 45th minute, when Malick Thiaw (a reserve player) commited a penalty and suddenly, the hosts were up 1-0. Just five minutes later, Milan went to the dressing room 2-0 down, after Dany Mota curled the ball perfectly passed Maignan. FT: Monza 4-2 AC Milan Milan came back from 2-0 down with 10-men to make it 2-2 in the 88th minute, but Monza won it in the 90th. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pBZ8FP9eAd— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) February 18, 2024 Pioli was forced to bring in the „heavy artillery“ in the second half, when Leao, Pulisic and later Giroud all came in. But their effort was even more difficult when Luka Jović slapped Monza‘s Izzo and received a red card. Still, the old „fox“ Giroud managed to sneak one in before Pulišić leveled the game two minutes from time. But just like at the end of the first half, the hosts blizkrieged Milan with two goals in injury time and secured a big victory.SERIE AFridayTorino – Lecce 2-0 (0-0)/Bellanova 50, Zapata 81/Inter – Salernitana 4-0 (3-0)/Thuram 17, Martinez 19, Dumfries 40, Arnautovic 90/SaturdayNapoli – Genoa 1-1 (0-0)/Ngonge 90 – Frendrup 47/Verona – Juventus 2-2 (1-0)/Folorunsho 11, Noslin 52 – Vlahovic 28 pen, Rabiot 56/Atalanta – Sassuolo 3-0 (1-0)/Pasalic 22, Koopmeiners 58, Bakker 75/SundayLazio – Bologna 1-2 (1-1)/Isaksen 18 – El Azzozi 39, Zirkzee 78/Udinese – Cagliari 1-1 (1-1)/Zemura 14 – Gaetano 44/Empoli – Fiorentina (0-1)/Niang 56(p) – Beltran 29/Frosinone – Roma 3-0 (1-0)/Huijsen 38, Azmoun 71, Paredes 81(p)/Monza – Milan 4-2 (2-0)/Pessina 45(p), Mota 45+2, Bondo 90, Colombo 90+5 – Giroud 64, Pulisic 88/