In the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia, Milan lost 0-1 to Lazio Rome. As a result, AC was not only eliminated from the cup, but also had to say goodbye to its 13-game unbeaten streak. Lazio captain Zaccagni became the match winner.
Lazio and Milan had only met last Saturday in Serie A, where Milan came out on top with a 1-0 victory. Maurizio Sarri made two changes to Lazio’s line-up compared to that game (Mandas for Provedel and Castellanos for Dia). Massimiliano Allegri, on the other hand, rotated his squad: Gabbia, Bartesaghi, Modric, Fofana, and Nkunku were replaced by de Winter, Estupinan, Ricci, Jashari, and Loftus-Cheek. These players were expected to help Milan avoid defeat for the 14th consecutive game.
A tough affair in the first half
At the start of the game, there was no danger of that happening, as both teams entered into an unspoken non-aggression pact. For around 20 minutes, the ball was simply pushed back and forth without any sign of goal-scoring danger. That only changed in the 25th minute when Basic shot just wide of the Milan goal on the counterattack. The game then picked up pace briefly, but quickly flattened out again. The last highlight belonged to the slightly superior home side: Isaksen failed to beat Maignan after a corner (45′). The game remained goalless at the break.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Milan looked like a different team. Suddenly, the visitors were playing with purpose going forward and had a good chance to take the lead in the 51st minute through Loftus-Cheek. However, Lazio then regained control of the game and it became a tough affair once again. Around the 70th minute, AC had two chances to take the lead: Loftus-Cheek had another chance with a header (69′) and Rafael Leao shot over the bar from a central position in the penalty area (71′).
Lazio captain Zaccagni is left criminally unmarked
Towards the end of the game, however, the home side appeared more frequently in front of the Milan goal, resulting in a corner in the 80th minute. Nuno Tavares brought the ball in from the left and found Lazio captain Zaccagni, who was completely left unmarked by the AC defense. He headed the ball into the right side of the goal, leaving Maignan with no chance – giving the home side the lead (80′). The Romans could have pushed the door to the quarterfinals even further open, but Noslin’s volley was denied by a strong save from Maignan (85′). In the final minutes, Milan threw everything forward to avert their first defeat in 13 games, but it was not to be on this evening.
Lazio thus advanced to the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, and Serie A leaders Milan have one less wedding to dance at in the coming weeks. Lazio’s next league game is at home against Bologna on Sunday (6 p.m.). AC have an extra day’s break and face FC Turin away on Monday (8:45 p.m.).
