Christian Pulisic put in an industrious display in AC Milan's comfortable 3-0 victory at Serie A strugglers Empoli on Sunday.
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AC Milan beat Empoli 3-0 in Serie ALoftus-Cheek, Giroud, and Traore scorePulisic bags assist as Milan stay thirdGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?
Milan stayed in the Serie A title hunt after cruising to victory at Carlo Castellani Stadium to stay third in the table. Rafael Leao left the home side's defence trailing in his wake before setting up former Chelsea man Ruben Loftus-Cheek to slot home with a neat, first-time finish in the 11th minute. The visitors were then awarded a penalty, via a VAR review, after Youssef Maleh handled in the box and Olivier Giroud dispatched his spotkick in off the bar just after the half-hour mark. Empoli improved in the second half as Stefano Pioli's side took their foot off the gas before bursting into life at the end when Pulisic's rapid counter attack led to Chaka Traore curling in two minutes from time to secure all three points.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Milan had to win to keep rivals Inter just about in their sights, with the Rossoneri now nine points adrift of the league leaders. With the Italian giants currently without the likes of Fikayo Tomori, Tommaso Pobega and Noah Okafor, getting the win and not losing any more players to injury is a welcome boost.
Getty ImagesUSMNT IMPACT
United States international Pulisic has been one of Milan's best players this season, scoring seven goals and bagging six assists to date. However, for most of the contest, he had a fairly quiet afternoon against Empoli as the winger was starved of opportunities to attack. The 25-year-old did whip in a dangerous cross early in the first half, that nobody got on the end of, and then he had a header tipped over the bar by goalkeeper Elia Caprile in the second half. But, he got his rewards for a hard-working display as he showed great pace to hit Empoli on the counter before teeing up teenager Traore for the icing on the cake.
Substitute and compatriot Yunus Musah had a nice driving run into the box shortly after his introduction in the 70th minute, but other than that he didn't get many chances to shine.
GOAL'S RATINGS
Christian Pulisic – 7/10
Showed a lot of patience and intelligence on a day where he was not in the thick of the action. Drifted in-field on multiple occasions to make a bigger impact in the game and did well to assist Traore late on in a classy bit of skill.
Yunus Musah – 6/10
Really had very little to do as Milan cruised to the victory. Unlikely to force his way into a starting role at present as he continues his injury recovery.
