The Rossneri beat Sassuolo 3-0 courtesy of a brace from Olivier Giroud and Frank Kessie' s strike on the final day of the campaign.
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AC Milan won the Serie A title with a comprehensive win at Sassuolo on the final day of the season. The City of Milan is already celebrating with a sea of red and black flags. Thousands of fans had started gathering in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, in front of the iconic cathedral, even before the Rossoneri Clinched its 19th Scudetto. The Rossoneri headed into the contest knowing that a point was enough to secure the Scudetto as they had a better head-to-head record against the second-placed Inter Milan, who also ended their campaign with a dominant 3-0 win over Sampdoria. Meanwhile going into the halftime at Citta del Tricolore, Milan knew the job was done regardless of the result at San Siro.
Our people, our colours: this is #ACMilan, we are the CHAMPIONS OF ITALY ❤️???
La nostra gente, i nostri colori: niente è più bello! Festeggiamo rossoneri, SIAMO CAMPIONI D’ITALIA! ❤️???#AlwaysWithYou #SempreMilan #SassuoloMilan pic.twitter.com/L8gw79K5nT
— AC Milan (@acmilan) May 22, 2022
Milan started the match positively as Olivier Giroud got his head to a free-kick, but Andrea Consigli’s save was equal to it, then a flurry of opportunities in the space of a few minutes. Rafael Leao was denied by Ferrari’s last-ditch tackle before Maxime Lopez made a goal-line clearance from a corner kick. Alexis Saelemaekers and Leao forced more saves from Consigli, but they got the breakthrough after 17 minutes. Leao stole the ball from Kaan Ayhan on the half-way line and raced forward before setting up Giroud to slot home from 10 yards.
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The home goalkeeper was having a busy night as he flew to palm a Sandro Tonali scorcher out from under the crossbar, then parried both a Alexis Saelemaekers half-volley and the Theo Hernandez follow-up. The second goal arrived when Leao again showed some good footwork to get past defenders before cutting the ball back from the byline for Giroud to once again fire home from 10 yards. The third came from the right flank, once again from a Leao assist as the Portuguese international ran on to Rade Krunic’s pass before pulling the ball back from the byline for Kessie to sweep in with the inside of his left boot from eight yards.
Meanwhile the visiting goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who won the Serie A best goalkeeper of the season award, made his first real save when he got down to claw away Davide Frattesi’s glancing header from a free-kick at the far bottom corner. Veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic also made a cameo appearance off the bench and had the ball in the net from what would have been a fourth assist but this time the 22-year-old winger was offside. Hamed Traore almost got a consolation goal but his effort struck the base of the woodwork, while Davide Calabria forced a superb Consigli save from point-blank range on another Leao assist.
It was a dominant performance from the Rossoneri as they were clinical up front, controlled the midfield and were solid at the back. Milan registered a whopping 12 attempts on goal and could have scored more if not for some brilliant saves by Consigli. The result meant Milan finished two points clear of defending champions Inter Milan. The season-long duel between Milan and Inter for the Scudetto came to an end and the Rossoneri only secured their first Serie A title since 2011. It was the first time Pioli has won any silverware as a coach.
