Three goals for three points and Milan is back on track, remaining at the top of the table thanks to the 3-0 success against Verona.
Two faces of the Rossoneri in a sold-out San Siro: as slow and soporific in the first half, still taking the lead thanks to a goal from the usual Pulisic (eighth goal of the season), as glacial and incisive at the start of the second half, when he sent the final credits on the match with a brace from Nkunku. And probably the best news of the day came from the Frenchman (obviously in addition to the three points), with the hope that the double will help him to definitively unblock himself also on a mental level.
“After the penalty, which wasn’t easy, Nkunku scored a goal as a centre-forward. We are happy and happy to have him with us”, explained Rossoneri coach Massimiliano Allegri after the match. “I’m satisfied with what we’re doing, but we mustn’t lower the bar – he added -. It was important to win because Verona is a grumpy team and above all we finally beat a small team at home. This was very important. Then we take it one step at a time”.
A game of two sides, because Milan’s start, also thanks to Verona, was anything but exciting. The first shot towards goal came in the 20th minute, with a right-footed shot from the edge of the area by Loftus-Cheek deflected by a defender, while shortly afterwards Nkunku narrowly missed following an assist from Rabiot in the area. They seem like two isolated flashes, at least until injury time when the usual Pulisic takes care of putting the Rossoneri ahead, with a strike after a burst from Rabiot on a corner.
At the beginning of the second half, Verona’s reaction did not arrive, Milan as a great team immediately closed the match in less than ten minutes thanks to Nkunku, who finally became the protagonist. The Frenchman earns it and then cleverly converts a penalty, following a naive hold by Nelsson which leads to some post-match yellow and blue controversy. “While I respect the referee’s decisions, there are certainly many incidents like this. It seemed like a bit of a penalty to me”, commented Alberto Bertolini, Zanetti’s deputy (now disqualified). “It’s obvious that he had an impact, he directed the match. We had those 10 minutes where we were a bit tossed from a mental point of view”, he concluded. Because in fact after the double the 3-0 also arrived, with Nkunku beating Bella-Kotchap by repeating Modric’s left-footed shot that he had hit the post into the net.
“I came back after an injury, I needed time to regain physical shape, now I’m training well and I feel better and better,” explained Nkunku. “The most important thing was to get the three points, I’m very happy. We played a good game, we didn’t concede a goal, we scored 3 and for this we are very happy.” Thanks to the former Chelsea player’s brace, the rest of the match turned almost into an academy, with the Rossoneri coming close to scoring a poker on a few occasions. Having closed 2025 in the best possible way, Milan have already put Cagliari in their sights for the first match of 2026 in which, among other things, the reinforcement of Niclas Fullkrug will arrive in attack: also waiting for Leao in addition to the German, with Nkunku so decisive, now the Rossoneri can also dream.
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