Venezia 0-2 AC Milan: Pulisic and Gimenez score early and late to secure win | OneFootball

AC Milan got the job done against Venezia at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo on Sunday in the early kick-off, winning 2-0.

The first goal of the game came inside the opening five minutes and it was scored by Christian Pulisic following an assist from Youssouf Fofana. Then, in the closing seconds, Santiago Gimenez ended his drought with a lovely lob from Tijjani Reijnders’ assist.

What will be most pleasing for Milan is the fact that they kept a third clean sheet in four games, showing that the switch to a three-man defence does appear to have improved the solidity at the back.

There is still not real hope of qualifying for the Champions League or even the Europa League through a top five finish in Serie A, though it is important to build momentum ahead of the Coppa Italia final.

When the team news first came out, Sergio Conceicao had named an unchanged side from the one that beat Inter in midweek. However, there was a late alteration in the warm-ups: Luka Jovic felt some discomfort, so Tammy Abraham got the nod up front instead.

Milan took less than five minutes to get themselves in front, and it was Pulisic who scored his 10th of the season in Serie A. Alex Jimenez played a ball infield to Youssouf Fofana, who found the run of the American in behind, and the finish was composed.

The game then settled into a rhythm whereby Milan seemed happy to let Venezia try and get their way back into things, while looking for openings in transition to get a second goal. In the opening 20 minutes, though, the goal was the only real chance.

Zerbin looked like the main threat for the home side, and in the 22nd minute he should have perhaps done better when spinning and firing inside the box, dragging his shot wide of the near post.

Venezia had a couple of opportunities to level things just after the midway point in the first half. Firstly, Zerbin fired a cross that whizzed along the six-yard box, then Yeboah hit once across goal from the resulting corner but just wide.

Venezia thought that they had levelled the game in minute 35 as a brilliant bit of build-up play down Milan’s right side ended with a low cross that was thumped in by Yeboah, yet a VAR check showed an offside and thus the goal was disallowed.

There was a moment of worry not long after the goal was chalked off as Theo Hernandez slipped and looked to have seriously hurt his knee. However, the Frenchman got back up and was able to play on.

Pulisic had the ball in the back of the net for a second time just before the break, dinking the onrushing goalkeeper after a tackle from Matteo Gabbia went all the way through to him, but the flag rightly went up.

The first chance of the second half went to the home side and more specifically to Nicolussi Caviglia, who met a cross well to volley it towards goal but ultimately it landed just wide of the far post with Maignan stranded.

Milan had a big shout for a penalty turned down six minutes before the hour mark when a corner wasn’t properly cleared and Strahinja Pavlovic’s shot was blocked. The replays were inconclusive though, so no spot kick was given.

Tammy Abraham saw space open up in front of him when Venezia coughed up possession in their own half, though he couldn’t work the goalkeeper with a strike from 20 yards, with Leao to his right having made a good run.

That would be the Englishman’s last action of the game, as he was withdrawn for Santiago Gimenez with 64 minutes on the clock. A few minutes later, Leao and Alex Jimenez made way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kyle Walker.

Gimenez had a big opportunity to end his goal drought shortly after those substitutions, with Loftus-Cheek providing an excellent cross towards the Mexican who glanced a header across the face of goal.

The final 10 minutes of the game consisted mainly of Milan failing to execute counter-attacks properly, either shooting off target or not passing. With three minutes left, Joao Felix and Filippo Terracciano came on for Pulisic and Fofana.

With just seconds left on the clock, Milan finally did get a second goal to kill the game off and Gimenez was the one who got it. A lovely ball over the top from Tijjani Reijnders found the striker’s run in behind, and he lifted it over the goalkeeper to record his first goal since mid-February.