Niclas Füllkrug celebrated his debut for AC Milan at Cagliari Calcio—and was immediately rewarded with three points. Thanks to a goal from Rafael Leao, the Rossoneri are now at the top of the table, at least for the time being.
Cagliari coach Fabio Pisacane wanted his team to carry on the momentum from their 2-1 win at Torino, but Allegri’s side also had big plans. With a win on Friday evening, Milan—fresh off a 3-0 victory over Hellas Verona—could temporarily overtake city rivals and league leaders Inter. So there was plenty of motivation to live up to their role as favorites in Cagliari.
Plenty, but apparently not enough. In the first half, AC Milan put in a weak performance that had little to do with that of a league leader. Only Cagliari showed signs of good play, with Prati (2nd), Adopo (33′) and Mazitelli (41′).
Milan lackluster in the first half
At Milan, where new signing Niclas Füllkrug was immediately included in the squad but initially took a seat on the bench, there was radio silence in the offense. Apart from a harmless shot by Loftus-Cheek (16th minute), the Rossoneri had little to offer. However, because the visitors were solid defensively, the score was 0-0 at halftime after a largely uneventful first half.
The favored Lombards came out of the dressing room like a different team, applying strong pressure—and were promptly rewarded: Loftus-Cheek nodded the ball over the bar (49′), but just a minute later, Rafael Leao did better under pressure, sorting out his legs in the penalty area and slamming the ball into the near corner.
Füllkrug makes his debut in an AC shirt
Milan continued to dominate the game, with Cagliari struggling to come up with ideas and suddenly having to contend with the slippery pitch. In the 69th minute, Allegri strengthened the AC offense with the introduction of debutant Füllkrug. The new signing came on for Rafael Leao and immediately took on the role of target man. The 32-year-old certainly tried hard, but with Milan now focusing more on defensive work, Füllkrug was mainly busy running at the Cagliari back three. As a result, he didn’t get a shot on goal, but AC Milan earned three points, which temporarily propelled them to the top of Serie A.
On Thursday (6:30 p.m.), Cagliari Calcio will play at US Cremonese, and on the same day (8:45 p.m.), Milan will host FC Genoa.
