League leaders Milan edged past Empoli at San Siro courtesy of Pierre Kalulu’s lone strike in the 19th minute and the win helped them to 63 points from 29 games.
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AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli was satisfied with his team’s performance in the 1-0 win over Empoli on Saturday. The win helped the Serie A leaders to 63 points from 29 games, five points above second-placed Inter Milan, who have two games in hand. The top four teams are separated by just seven points and Pioli feels that all the top five teams are well in the Scudetto race. Milan edged past Empoli at San Siro courtesy of Pierre Kalulu’s lone strike in the 19th minute.
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3 points in the bag: job done, lads! ?
Un’altra vittoria: avanti così, ragazzi! ?#MilanEmpoli #SempreMilan @Acqua_Lete pic.twitter.com/ZjK741R9ld
— AC Milan (@acmilan) March 12, 2022
“We have to always consider the next match to be the most important. We are up there and have to keep taking it one game at a time,” Pioli told Sky Sport Italia.
“The table looks nice, but it’s virtual, because there are games in hand. I think it would be fair if everyone had played the same number of matches, but that is out of our control.
It was a good performance from Pioli’s side as they created a decent number of goal-scoring opportunities and controlled the proceedings throughout the 90 minutes. Milan took the lead when Olivier Giroud’s free-kick hit the wall but fell to Kalulu to fire into the far bottom corner with the inside of his left boot from outside the box.
Milan continued to push forward as Florenzi fired wide from Rafael Leao’s back-heel inside the penalty area. Giroud’s header from Davide Calabria’s free-kick was pushed away by Vicario before Kessie’s shot was blocked by the Empoli defence inside the six yard box.
The coach added “We did well this evening, controlled the game and didn’t run many risks. Empoli caused us a few problems with their passing and we made mistakes playing out from the back, but we did well defensively.
“We need to be tighter between the lines, so we are ready to break in, steal the ball back and go on the attack immediately.
After the break, Milan keeper Mike Maignan made a superb save to deny Sebastian Luperto’s header from a cross. And then, Maignan was tested from Nedim Bajrami’s in-swinging corner, having to shove it out from under the crossbar.
“At the start of the second half, we felt a bit sluggish and the lack of movement meant we couldn’t find those passing options. We didn’t dominate the match tonight, but we certainly controlled it.
“Of course, killing off the game earlier is the ideal, but at this stage of the season everyone has a target and you need to really put the effort in to win.
In the other match of the day, Juventus beat Sampdoria 3-1 to move to 56 points from 29 games. When asked about the Turin club’s Scudetto chances, Pioli said: “They are definitely in it, There are 27 points up for grabs, they are on an incredible run of positive results. I would keep all the top five in the race.”
