Vlahovic doesn't strike the ball cleanly and sends his chance well over the crossbar.
90' +1
A Milan counter-attack is brought back as Calhanoglu is adjudged to have fouled Chiesa outside the Rossoneri penalty area during his attempt to win the ball. Can the hosts steal an unbelievable victory?
90'
The fourth official indicates four additional minutes at the end of the 90.
85'
Penalty goal scored by E. Pulgar for Fiorentina!
T. Hernández gets yellow.
PULGAR DISPATCHES THE PENALTY! Begovic guesses correct and gets fingertips to it, but it isn’t enough to keep it out as Fiorentina go level! 1-1!
Hernandez is booked late on, possibly for encroaching the penalty or possibly for his words to the referee following the spot-kick.
80'
A. Saelemaekers enters the game and replaces Samu Castillejo.
With 10 minutes to go, Milan make their final change. Recent arrival Saelemaekers replaces Castillejo in a defensive move to secure the result.
79'
Bennacer’s change of pace gets him past three Fiorentina midfielders, before stumbling slightly - forcing a rushed pass to Rebic’s weak foot. A cross to Castillejo results in nothing more than a loss of possession; worrying to a Milan side who are on the back foot.
77'
Chiesa flashes a pass across the six-yard box, but there isn’t a team-mate in the area attacking as Igor is forced to recollect possession outside the penalty area on the left.
76'
M. Cáceres gets yellow.
Caceres’ wild foray into midfield ends with a booking for the former Juventus defender, who lost possession before sliding into a mistimed challenge on Bennacer.
74'
M. Musacchio enters the game and replaces M. Gabbia.
Gabbia's first start for Milan ends after 74 minutes with his side holding onto a clean sheet. The more experienced Musacchio is on to spell him.
Minute
Description
73'
Igor Julio enters the game and replaces Pol Lirola.
Iachini makes a change as Igor is on for Lirola.
70'
Castillejo receives an incisive pass from Kessie and curls a lovely shot past Dragowski - but there’s no time to celebrate as the linesman expectedly raises his flag for offside.
68'
P. Cutrone enters the game and replaces G. Castrovilli.
Milan’s goal was scored by a former Fiorentina striker, and Iachini uses his first substitution to issue his reply - sending on ex-Milan striker Cutrone to replace Castrovilli.
66'
Calhanoglu tries to find the head of Gabbia with his corner-kick to the penalty spot, but Milenkovic rises highest and clears the ball away from his 18-yard box.
64'
Ibrahimovic strikes the free-kick, sending the chance crashing against the well. Rebic is on the scene to pick up the loose ball and fire an awkward shot with the outside of his boot, but Dragowski dives across his goal to make the save.
62'
Dalbert goes off after a red card!
DALBERT’S YELLOW IS CHANGED FOR A RED! After pushing Ibrahimovic over from behind during a counter-attack, the Fiorentina winger was initially shown a yellow card - but after review, it appears as though the challenge stopped a goal-scoring opportunity; thus the expulsion! Fiorentina are down to 10 men!
58'
The on-loan striker from Eintracht Frankfurt has been absolutely sensational recently, scoring in each of his last four appearances - including goals against Inter and Juventus, as well as a game winner against Torino.
56'
A. Rebić has scored a goal for AC Milan!
REBIC CONTINUES HIS GOAL-SCORING FORM! Caceres chests it down inside his own penalty area looking for Pezzella to come across and clear it, but the former Fiorentina striker bursts through and hammers a shot past Dragowski! 1-0 Milan!
54'
Rebic gets free to put in a cross into the six-yard box after cutting down the byline, but his pass goes over the head of Ibrahimovic and out of the penalty area on the other side.
52'
A. Begović enters the game and replaces G. Donnarumma.
Worrying signs for Milan as Donnarumma has been seemingly unable to walk off his knock from the first half. Pioli is forced into his first change of the match and it’s in goal as the aforementioned goalkeeper is replaced by Begovic.
50'
Ibrahimovic is again in the middle of the action as he saves the ball from going out and squares it back to the edge of the penalty area. Kessie’s dummy opens up space for Bennacer to hit a shot on goal, but his curling effort goes wide.
48'
Calhanoglu plays a free-kick into the penalty area for Ibrahimovic, but an offside call on the striker gives Fiorentina a free-kick.
46'
Milan get the second half underway from the kick-off!
45' +1
HALF-TIME: FIORENTINA 0-0 MILAN.
44'
The fourth official indicates two additional minutes at the end of the first half for stoppages.
42'
Gabbia climbs over the bac k of Vlahovic and stops play once again, giving Fiorentina a free-kick which they take short, quickly.
40'
Milan have been a bit overaggressive in attempting to win the ball back - with Kessie the latest to give away a free-kick in his own half for a push.
38'
Ibrahimovic goes into a duel with Pezzella for an aerial ball, but the forward is deemed to have fouled his marker - giving away a free-kick.
36'
Fiorentina can count themselves slightly fortunate at that review, after replays don’t appear conclusive. Regardless, the match official has made his decision and Milan will have to beat Dragowski again if they are to take a lead.
32'
Milan opt to take a corner from the right short, but Bennacer wastes the chance as his left-footed curler misses the target by a considerable distance.
30'
Duncan leads Fiorentina on a march forward, but the midfielder bites off more than he can chew as he’s unable to cut inside past Kessie - with Romagnoli providing cover in-behind. It’s a lost opportunity for the Viola, who haven’t managed much.
28'
Hernandez looks to slip a pass wide through the defence for Rebic, but the attack strayed just offside at the last possible moment - giving Fiorentina a chance to regroup.
26'
The ball is driven into the penalty area looking for a flick-on - but Conti gets the final touch to put it behind for a corner.
24'
H. Çalhanoğlu gets yellow.
Calhanoglu leaps into a tackle much to the disappointment of Kessie and receives a yellow card - giving Fiorentina a set-piece just the penalty area to the left.
20'
Poor closing down on the left wing allows a cross to come into the penalty area over the head of two Milan defenders, though the hopeful header from Lirola ends up nicely in the hands of Donnarumma.
18'
Fiorentina’s defenders all swarm around their 18-yard box to close down the room as Milan come forward again to attack. The space doesn’t open up to Hernandez’s liking - and the left-back just whacks an effort at goal which is blocked.
16'
No flag is raised as Castillejo cuts inside and plays a pass to Rebic - whose shot forces a diving save from Fiorentina’s goalkeeper. The hosts all looked at the referee in anticipation of an offside call, but none was forthcoming.
14'
Play is stopped as Donnarumma is down receiving treatment on his ankle after his hesitancy gave Fiorentina a chance at an open goal - a shot which Castrovilli sent high above the bar. It appears as though while trying to play the ball, the Milan goalkeeper took a knock to his ankle, though he appears well enough to continue.
13'
Milenkovic goes on a long, slaloming run before hitting an off-balance shot from outside the penalty area which stings the palms of Donnarumma - but doesn’t beat the goalkeeper.
12'
I. Bennacer gets yellow.
Bennacer is shown a yellow card for a second mistimed challenge in the opening 12 minutes.
9'
Play is stopped as Bennacer’s needling looks to have gotten the best of Castrovilli - who goes down after taking a couple of kicks.
7'
Milan look to mount an attack down the left but the industry of Chiesa wins his side a rather sloppy free-kick from Hernandez, who shoved the forward over carelessly.
5'
Rebic is tightly marked by Milenkovic as he’s forced to pass it backwards and make his way up the pitch. The wide attacker has been in a rich vein of form for Milan recently - with his goal the winner against Torino.
3'
Fiorentina are getting their feet under them in the opening stages, looking to find the gaps in Milan’s midfield block. The hosts should be full of confidence after last week’s victory and they’ll need to turn that positivity into a result.
1'
Fiorentina get the match underway from the kick-off!
The Artemio Franchi plays host to a match between two underperforming sides, as 13th place Fiorentina welcome ninth place Milan. Without a win in their three matches prior to a 5-1 hammering of Sampdoria last weekend, the Viola often find it difficult to hit the back of the net, with Federico Chiesa forced to play a more central role to accomodate for the lack of goals. It isn’t all bad news for Beppe Iachini’s side however, as a win against Milan would see them jump into 12th and a point behind 11th ahead of tomorrow’s fixtures.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE commentary of the Serie A fixture between Fiorentina and Milan!
Milan rebounded nicely from their meltdown against Inter two weeks ago, tying Juventus 1-1 in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final before beating Torino 1-0 in the league on Monday. The Rossoneri are last in a queue of three teams on 35 points and find themselves in ninth, though a victory away in Florence could shoot Stefano Pioli’s side into sixth, and a point back of Roma in fifth.
With 15 minutes to go before kick-off, let’s take a look at the team news, starting with the hosts!
MILAN SUBS: Diego Laxalt, Marco Bresciannini, Mateo Musacchio, Daniel Maldini, Davide Calabria, Asmir Begovic, Lucas Paqueta, Alexis Saelemaekers, Antonio Donnarumma, Giacomo Bonaventura, Rafael Leao.
MILAN XI (4-2-3-1): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Andrea Conti, Mattia Gabbia, Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Franck Kessie, Ismael Bennacer; Samu Castillejo, Hakan Calhanoglu, Ante Rebic; Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
FIORENTINA SUBS: Igor Julio, Pietro Terracciano, Patrick Cutrone, Lorenzo Venuti, Rachid Ghezzal, Aleksa Terzic, Kevin Agudelo, Marco Benassi, Federico Ceccherini, Riccardo Sottil, Christian Dalle Mura, Federico Brancolini.
FIORENTINA XI (3-5-2): Bartlomiej Dragowski; Martin Caceres, German Pezzella, Nikola Milenkovic; Dalbert, Gaetano Castrovilli, Erick Pulgar, Alfred Duncan, Pol Lirola; Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa.
The 22 players on the pitch have amongst them enough quality to settle the match, but it hasn’t been on display as the likes of Chiesa and Castillejo have been bottled up by the choppy and short rhythm of the game. Ibrahimovic’s strength has challenged defenders, but it will be only a matter of time before his legs tire and a change will be needed. With Leao and Maldini on the bench for Milan, and former Rossoneri Cutrone available for the hosts - a late switch could settle the three points.
Fiorentina play again in a week’s time, when they travel to face Udinese. Milan are in action again on Sunday, when they host Genoa.
That concludes our commentary of the Serie A fixture between Fiorentina and Milan! We hope you enjoyed it!
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