Milan 1-1 Salernitana: Dia dents Rossoneri's top-four bid

By Sports Desk March 13, 2023

Milan missed the chance to gain ground on their rivals for a top-four Serie A finish as Boulaye Dia cancelled out Olivier Giroud's opener in a 1-1 draw with Salernitana at San Siro.

Slip-ups from Inter, Lazio and Roma gave Milan the chance to strike an important blow in the Champions League race on Monday, and they looked set to do so when Giroud headed the opener on the stroke of half-time.

However, Salernitana hit back through Dia just after the hour mark, before a VAR review denied Milan a penalty when Ismael Bennacer went down easily under Domagoj Bradaric's challenge.

The result means Milan remain fourth, just a point clear of fifth-placed Roma in a tense battle for Champions League qualification.

While Milan dominated possession from the off, Salernitana kept them quiet until the half-hour mark, when Giroud sent a trademark overhead kick narrowly over the crossbar.

Salernitana then squandered two chances on the break, with Grigoris Kastanos' effort deflecting wide after a loose pass from Mike Maignan, before the Milan goalkeeper made a fine last-ditch challenge to prevent Dia rounding him.

The visitors' resistance was broken just before half-time as Giroud met Bennacer's corner at the near post to glance a header into the bottom-left corner. 

Salernitana hit back after the restart as Bradaric led a Salernitana break down the left, with his driven cross turned beyond Maignan by a stretching Dia.

Milan threw on Zlatan Ibrahimovic in search of a winner and saw referee Federico La Penna reverse a decision to award them a spot-kick, while Guillermo Ochoa denied Divock Origi with a fine save late on.

Ochoa was involved again as Milan went agonisingly close to a winner late on, somehow clawing the ball away from the goal line following a scramble.

Related items

  • IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai IPL: Fraser-McGurk leads the way as Capitals hold off Mumbai

    Delhi Capitals withstood Mumbai Indian’s late surge and held on for a 10-run victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

    Jake Fraser-McGurk top-scored with 84 – hitting 50 off just 15 balls – while Tristan Stubbs (48) and Shai Hope (41) also chipped in with important contributions as the Capitals set a target of 258.

    Mukesh Kumar (3/59) and Rasikh Salam (3/34) did their best to halt Mumbai’s revival, but they turned up the pressure to require 25 runs from the final over.

    However, despite Luke Wood and Piyush Chawla’s best efforts, Delhi held out for a second successive win.

    Data debrief

    Wood almost made amends after conceding 68 runs during the opening innings – the joint-most in the IPL this season, matching Reece Topley’s tally against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

    Tilak Varma led Mumbai’s attempted revival with 63 for his sixth half-century in the IPL, though they have all come in defeats

  • Las Palmas 0-2 Girona: Michel's men close in on Champions League dream Las Palmas 0-2 Girona: Michel's men close in on Champions League dream

    It was a tale of three penalties as Girona went second in LaLiga with a 2-0 win over Las Palmas on Saturday, edging closer to a Champions League place for next season.

    Artem Dovbyk made sure of the win from the spot in the second half, after David Lopez had put them in front in the 26th minute.

    Lopez was on hand to blast into the roof of the net after Alvaro Valles saved Dovbyk's first penalty of the game, conceded by Las Palmas captain Kirian Rodriguez.

    Las Palmas had earlier squandered a spot-kick of their own, with Paulo Gazzaniga springing to his right to push Sandro Ramirez's strike away.

    Girona now possess a 13-point buffer to fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who have just 18 points to play for, so it appears a mere matter of time before Michel's side secure Champions League qualification.

    Data Debrief: Dovbyk in fine company

    Dovbyk wasn't deterred after seeing his first-half penalty saved, his second attempt from 12 yards finding the bottom-right corner to make the points safe for Girona.

    He has now scored 19 goals in just 31 appearances in LaLiga. Only four players have previously reached that figure in fewer outings in the competition – Cristiano Ronaldo (23), Radamel Falcao (24), Robert Lewandowski (28) and Julio Baptista (29).

     

  • Derby seal Championship return with Carlisle win as Cheltenham drop to League Two Derby seal Championship return with Carlisle win as Cheltenham drop to League Two

    Derby County sealed a Championship return by beating already-relegated Carlisle United 2-0 at Pride Park on the final day of the League One season.

    Derby knew a single point would end their two-year stay in the third tier of English football, with Bolton Wanderers waiting to pounce if the Rams did suffer a shock defeat.

    However, such a slip-up never looked likely as Max Bird's powerful strike from outside the area put them ahead within five minutes, and James Collins added a close-range second on the hour mark to make certain of promotion.

    Paul Warne's team finished five points behind Portsmouth, who clinched the title earlier this month, and five clear of Bolton – who needed a late equaliser from Cameron Jerome to draw 3-3 with Peterborough. 

    Bolton will face Barnsley in the play-offs as the Tykes were not punished for their 1-1 draw with Northampton Town, defeats for Blackpool and Lincoln City denying them the chance to gatecrash the top six.

    Fourth-placed Peterborough will face Oxford United in the other play-off semi-final, as the U's clinched a 2-1 win over Exeter City to claim fifth place in the final reckoning. 

    Three of the four relegation places had already been decided before Saturday's matches, with Carlisle, Port Vale, and Fleetwood Town on their way to League Two.

    Cheltenham will join them after Nick Freeman struck a 90th-minute winner in their 2-1 loss at Stevenage. Darrell Clarke's side needed a win to save themselves and send Burton Albion down in their place, but they were hit with a late sucker punch as their three-year stay in League One came to an end. 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.