Milan had a great start against Salernitana, but because the Rossoneri failed make a third, they had to work hard to get all three points over the line.
Milan took the lead in a sunny Stadio Arechi after ten minutes. Who other than Rafael Leão scored the first Serie A goal of 2023. The Portugese winger was denied by Guillermo Ochoa shortly before, but this time he went around the Mexican goalkeeper and made it 0-1.
Just five minutes later, Milan’s doubled their lead. Sandro Tonali already had an assist, but also put his own name on the scoreboard with a great strike in the left bottom corner. It remained 0-2 until half-time, which was mainly thanks to a couple of great saves from Ochoa.
Milan thought they made it 0-3 after almost an hour, but Brahim Díaz, who had the final touch, was offside. More Ochoa heroics then followed. The Mexican goalkeeper denied Giroud and then De Ketelaere in the follow-up. One minute later, Federico Bonazzoli met Coulibaly’s cross a the far post to make it 1-2, to make the final part of the fixture very interesting.
The Rossoneri were close to a third goal a couple of times, but Ochoa was there to save Salernitana every time. In the end, the home side couldn’t really trouble Milan anymore, so the match ended in a 1-2 win for the visitors.
Player Ratings
Salernitana: Ochoa (8); Lovato (4.5), Radovanović (5.5), Fazio (5.5); Sambia (5), Coulibaly (6), Bohinen (6), Vilhena (5.5), Bradarić (6.5); Piątek (6), Dia (6).
Substitutes: Daniliuc (6), Bonazzoli (6.5), Valencia (5.5), Kastanos (5.5).
Milan: Tatarusanu (5.5); Calabria (6.5), Kalulu (6), Tomori (7), Hernández (6.5); Bennacer (6), Tonali (7.5); Saelemaekers (6), Díaz (6.5), Leão (7.5); Giroud (6)
Substitutes: Dest (5.5), Vranckx (6), Gabbia (5.5), De Ketelaere (6).
Jurre van Waanroij | GIFN
