Sassuolo 3-3 AC Milan: Late Okafor leveller earns the Rossoneri a comeback draw

AC Milan’s five-game winning run in Serie A was ended by Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon, but they battled back from two different two-goal deficits to snatch a 3-3 draw.

It was a nightmare start for Milan who were all at sea defensively, with Andrea Pinamonti opening the scoring and Armand Lauriente doubling the advantage for the home side, but Rafael Leao’s solo run got the Rossoneri back into it.

Lauriente restored the two-goal lead early in the second half to give Milan a mountain to climb, though goals from Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor secured a point that still carries a bit of a bitter taste.

The result means that the gap to Juventus in third place remains six points, though Inter can clinch the Scudetto next week with a win in the derby.

Stefano Pioli made seven changes to the team that lost to Roma on Thursday night as Marco Sportiello, Simon Kjaer, Alessandro Florenzi, Yunus Musah, Yacine Adli, Samuel Chukwueze and Luka Jovic all started.

Milan had the first half-chance after making a bright start. They forced two corners and the second one saw a delivery reach Florenzi on the far side whose volley was lashed wide of the near post.

We picked out Pinamonti as Sassuolo’s danger man before the game, and he gave Sassuolo the lead less than five minutes in. Volpato beat Malick Thiaw to the byline with a smart spin and pulled the ball back to the centre-forward, who hit a first-time shot sweetly into the bottom corner.

Sassuolo scored with their first attack and weren’t far away from doing the same again with their second. An awful touch from Kjaer allowed Lauriente to break down the left and he shifted the ball onto his preferred foot but struck the shot into the side netting.

In the 10th minute the home side did double their lead and this time Lauriente made the most of the space he got down the left. The winger was put through on goal by a ball inside the back-tracking Florenzi, and though his first shot was stopped by Sportiello he quickly jabbed home the rebound.

A period of domination followed from Milan and they were inches away from halving the deficit when Kjaer’s header from a cross was then nudged on by Thiaw but saved miraculously by Consigli.

Milan thought they were right back in the game when a cross from the left side was headed back across goal and into the far corner by Chukwueze, though the offside flag went up and though the call was marginal it was offside.

In the 20th minute it did become 2-1 and it was thanks to a moment of brilliance from Leao. The Portuguese winger was found in space on the left and ran at Tressoldi and Boloca, slaloming between them both and then finishing with a precise low shot on his right foot.

Milan had a couple of big opportunities to level the game before the break and both of them fell to Theo. The first was a stinging shot from a free-kick that was parried back to him but the follow-up effort was well saved, then a solo run from the Frenchman saw him surge into the box and fire into the side netting from a narrow angle.

Sassuolo restored their two goal lead eight minutes into the second half and it was a calamity at the back from Milan. A poor pass to Adli saw him lose possession and Defrel was able to cut the ball back into a dangerous area, with Lauriente setting himself and firing into the top corner via a touch from Sportiello.

Pioli decided to make multiple changes in response, with Olivier Giroud, Tijjani Reijnders and Matteo Gabbia coming on for Loftus-Cheek, Musah and Kjaer.

Not long after that, Milan once again made it a one-goal game. The ball was worked wide to Leao who tried a cross with the outside of his boot that Consigli could only push into the path of Jovic, with the Serbian striker firing into a virtually empty net first time.

Chukwueze again had the ball in the net and this time with an outstanding outside of the boot shot that rattled in off the far post after his run in behind was found, and again offside came to the rescue of Sassuolo as VAR chalked it off. He would be withdrawn after, with Christian Pulisic coming on.

Inside the final 15 minutes Pulisic had a massive chance to get Milan level. Adli was found in space down the right and pulled a perfect ball back to the American who hit it first time from deep inside the box but straight at Consigli.

The final change from Pioli came in the 82nd minute as Adli made way for Noah Okafor, and he had been on the pitch for just 90 seconds when he scored. A corner was sent to the far side of the box and Gabbia took down a header with his chest in behind, then the Swiss forward hammered it first time into the bottom corner to level the game.

It looked as though Milan would snatch the lead for the first time when Pulisic was first to a loose ball and stormed towards the box with options to squad, and though his touch let him down the ball did squirm to Giroud who somehow fired well over.