Tijjani Lekatompessy shines as AC Milan secures decisive victory in Serie A

AC Milan secured an easy victory in Serie A on Saturday night. The Rossoneri Cagliari had no children thanks to goals from Ismaël Bennacer, Christian Pulisic (2x), Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leão. Milan are assured of second place as a result of the victory, while Cagliari are still involved in an interesting relegation battle as number fifteen.

Trainer Stefano Pioli decided to change his starting eleven in a few places after the exciting 3-3 draw against Genoa. Leão, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernández, among others, were sent to the bench. Reijnders retained his starting position. Because of Mother’s Day in Italy, all the players of the Italian superpower played with their mothers’ surnames on their shirts. That’s why Reijnders had ‘Lekatompessy’, the surname of his Moluccan mother Angelina, on his shirt.

There were no great chances in the first half hour. But it was Milan who managed to open the score in the first act. While Samuel Chukwueze saw his attempt blocked, Bennacer managed to break the spell on the rebound: 1-0.

Pioli decided to make a triple substitution at half time. Leão, Tomori and Noah Okafor joined the team ahead of Matteo Gabbia, Chukwueze and the unpredictable Olivier Giroud.

Leão showed himself immediately with a shot on the crossbar. With an hour on the clock, the Portuguese attacker was 2-0 down. After a long sprint, he released Pulisic in front of the goal, after which his player had a choice in the corner.

Nahitan Nandez quickly restored the tension with the tying goal, after which Reijnders reduced the margin to two fifteen minutes from time. The Dutch international hit the target with a fiery shot from around 25 meters: 3-1.

Milan’s hunger for a goal was only satisfied after the third goal. Leão increased the score even further after being sent into the deep by Hernández: 4-1. The final score then went to Pulisic, who saw Cagliari defender Yerry Mina save just behind the goal line: 5-1.