AC Milan threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Lecce on Saturday, in another disappointing outing in Serie A for the Rossoneri.
Despite the early loss of Rafael Leao to injury, Milan were excellent in the first half as goals from Olivier Giroud and Tijjani Reijnders put us in a commanding position at the break.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan bounce back with crucial win vs PSG
However, a superb save from Mike Maignan just before half-time was a warning that the game was far from over, but the Rossoneri didn’t heed it and ultimately squandered our lead to share the spoils.
After the high of midweek following our win over Paris Saint-Germain, this was a bitterly disappointing result, as our poor domestic form continues.
Positive initial response after Leao setback
After losing Leao to what appeared to be a muscle injury after just 10 minutes, there were immediate concerns that we would then go on struggle to break Lecce down given our poor attacking play in recent weeks.
To their credit though, we showed real quality in our two goals and put ourselves in a great position to go on and seal the win as we seemingly picked up from where we left off in midweek.
While there are still some individuals not playing to a high enough level to be decisive, it was positive to see us respond well after the setback of losing our talisman.
Reijnders finally ends wait for first Milan goal
After 15 appearances across all competitions and countless opportunities to get off the mark, Reijnders finally found the back of the net this weekend to register his first goal for the club.
The 25-year-old makes some great runs into dangerous areas and is a threat for us, but his finishing has been poor and that ruthlessness in front of goal has been lacking.
In turn, it’s hoped that this is a real confidence boost for him now and that he can put together a run of goalscoring form, as it would add a new dynamic to our attacking play on a more consistent basis.
Second-half collapse inexcusable
While that’s all the positives out of the way, the second-half collapse from Milan was embarrassing and inexcusable.
Having gone through the exact same scenario a fortnight ago at Napoli, to not learn lessons from that and to not produce a better reaction to adversity is really poor and concerning.
After missing chances to kill the game off, we were overrun and rattled in that period where we conceded twice, and ultimately we were fortunate in the end that it wasn’t worse.
Pioli under pressure again
It’s been one step forward and two steps back this week after beating PSG on Tuesday night, only to drop more points in Serie A a few days later.
That’s now a four-game winless streak in the league as we could find ourselves coming under real pressure to stay in the top four in the coming weeks, while the gap at the top could stretch to eight points by the end of the weekend.
Unsurprisingly, the pressure and criticism will primarily be directed towards Stefano Pioli, as it starts with his management and preparation to get results. That second-half performance will do little to quieten the discontent in some quarters.
Crucial International break as festive run-in could be decisive
Milan’s next fixture will be against Fiorentina on November 25, with Borussia Dortmund visiting San Siro a few days later in another crunch Champions League encounter.
This international break will be an important opportunity to regroup and prepare ourselves for what will be a fundamental run of games leading up to Christmas now, as they may well shape the direction we go in long-term.
Put a winning run together and Pioli will get more time to ensure we’re serious contenders this season for silverware. Come out the gate and lose again, questions will perhaps be asked more intensely about whether or not a change should be considered, and ultimately made.
