Milan came flying out of the blocks and put together a flurry of slick moves in an effort to penetrate the hosts’ defence but some last-ditch defending and wasteful finishing kept the scoreline level through 20 minutes. They appeared to be made to pay for their wastefulness however, as Giorgos Kyriakopoulos was taken down by two Milan defenders as he cut through the box, forcing the referee to award Sassuolo a penalty-kick. But a fantastic diving save from Mike Maignan on the subsequent spot-kick kept the first half stalemate in-tact.
It was much of the same in the second half, as the Rossoneri probed the home side for an opening, but struggled to create clear-cut chances. Facing one of Serie A’s leakiest defensive sides from last season, Milan seemed poised to find the opener, but Sassuolo remained stubborn in the face of the pressure. The frustration would not subside for the visitors, as a winning strike looked less likely as time went on, and in the end their missed chances in the first half came back to bite them, as they failed to score for the first time this season.
After an 11th position Serie A finish last season, Sassuolo will be keen on breaking into the top-half of the table this time around. However, with only one win from their opening four games and the devastating loss of talisman Domenico Berardi through what seemed to be a serious injury in the game, the Mapei club will be left thoroughly disappointed in the young season so far.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
