AC Milan Must Continue to Invest in Their Talented Crop of Rising Stars

The first time AC Milan met Sassuolo ended in embarrassment. On January 12, 2014, they threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 4-3 away to the Neroverdi, who at the time were fighting simply to remain in Serie A. Ever since that match, Milan have struggled against Eusebio Di Francesco’s men.

Sassuolo had won four out of the six league encounters between the two sides leading up to their meeting on Sunday evening. And, after an hour of football at the San Siro, it didn’t look like this pattern was going to change.

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At 3-1 down, Milan’s Sassuolo hoodoo was set to continue. However, three goals in the final 20 minutes ensured a 4-3 victory for Vincenzo Montella’s side. While the performance was shaky, the result felt like a turning point—and it had a lot to thank youth for.

Milan started the match well, taking control of ball possession and building some wonderfully intricate attacking moves. When Giacomo Bonaventura collected the ball from Mattia De Sciglio before lashing in a low strike that deflected beyond Andrea Consigli, everything appeared to be going to plan.

However, within a minute, the positive start had been immediately undone.

Ignazio Abate, back in at right-back for the injured Davide Calabria, passed the ball straight to Matteo Politano. The 23-year-old winger then proceeded to coolly slot home past an advancing Gianluigi Donnarumma. It was a composed finish from an in-form attacker (this was Politano’s fourth goal of the campaign), but it all came about because of one costly individual error.

From then on, Milan’s control on proceedings wavered before a complete malfunction seemed to assure them of defeat.

Claud Adjapong appeared to have put Sassuolo 2-1 up only to see his goal disallowed for handball as the away side began to threaten consistently. Montella was then sent off at half-time for protesting referee Marco Guida’s decision to halt play during a Milan counter-attack.

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On 54 minutes, ex-Rossonero Francesco Acerbi took advantage of lax marking to give Sassuolo the lead. This lead was then doubled just two minutes later, as Lorenzo Pellegrini worked space with a one-two before beating Gustavo Gomez in a one-on-one and curling in his team’s third goal.

A meltdown of gargantuan proportions was on the cards. Milan’s players looked around disconsolately in search of hope, finding nothing but perplexed faces. Meanwhile, the fans, perhaps understandably, didn’t hold back in voicing their frustrations.

Not only would this have been a second home defeat of the season, following on from the deeply disappointing 1-0 loss to Udinese, but it would have continued Milan’s woes against Sassuolo, who beat them to sixth place and European competition last term.

Fortunately, Montella made the correct changes to fix his initial mistakes.

For reasons unknown to most, the coach had decided to alter a team that had picked up seven points from a possible nine, dropping M’Baye Niang, one of his most influential attackers, for Brazilian Luiz Adriano.

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The change was strange and unnecessary, particularly seeing as Milan, unlike their opponents, don’t have the midweek stresses of European football to contend with. Disrupting a settled side didn’t seem to do much good; Adriano saw little of the ball and when he did gain possession, he offered few reasons to suggest he deserved more regular game time.

However, after his introduction at half-time, Niang would leave a huge impact on the game to reassert his status as an integral first-team player.

The French forward took Adriano’s place and immediately made his presence felt upon the visitors’ back line, running with speed and directness at every opportunity. And it was from one of these forward surges that hope came for Milan.

Running between two defenders, Niang fell to win a penalty kick for his side. Carlos Bacca duly converted, and the score became 3-2.

Then, another one of Montella’s substitutions made his mark.

Manuel Locatelli, an 18-year-old Primavera graduate who has been used often from the bench so far this season, came on for Riccardo Montolivo at the 59-minute mark as the captain began to tire. And the young playmaker found the equaliser with a spectacular shot from just outside the Sassuolo penalty box on 73 minutes.

Catching the ball perfectly as it bobbled his way, he unleashed the ball into the roof of the net, leaving Consigli with no chance. This was his first goal for Milan, and it had come in some style. His celebrations—manic and emotional—will go down as the most memorable seen at the San Siro in recent years.

Four minutes later, the comeback was sealed.

Central defender Gabriel Paletta leapt to head home Milan’s fourth, lift a huge weight of pressure and secure three vital points. The provider was Niang, whose floated left-footed cross was ideal for the 30-year-old to attack.

In the last two seasons, Milan have turned around perceptions of them lacking a long-term strategy with regard to team-building by bringing in a host of highly skilled young players. Giving opportunities to youth has, rather surprisingly after years of neglect, led the club to be viewed as a nurturing one.

Yet the victory over Sassuolo was a powerful reminder that, while these prospects were handed their chance initially, they are now integral to the team.

Despite some early jitters, the shot-stopping and composure of 17-year-old Donnarumma made sure that Milan let in no more than three. Winger Suso, 22, was one of the Diavolo’s best performers, earning a 7.09 rating from WhoScored.com having made two key passes and completed one dribble. And, from the substitutes' bench, Locatelli and Niang played a part in all three of the team’s second-half goals.

After the match, Montella told Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia):

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As for Locatelli, football still moves me to this day and this sport will always give me a strong emotional response. I am happy for him, he’s a lad with his head on his shoulders. Now the difficult part comes along, as it’s hard to be a professional football player, but Locatelli has the balanced mentality to achieve it.

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But Locatelli, who had been close to tears following his equaliser, showed no signs of getting carried away with his maiden Milan strike in his interview with Mediaset Premium (h/t Football Italia):

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I dedicate the goal to my family, my parents, my brother and sister and all those who believed in me. This is a moment every child waits for and I still can’t believe it. When I heard the shout from the crowd, I couldn’t believe it, I just started running and it was all true. We did a great comeback, we’re doing well, but need to do better.

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Milan’s newfound appreciation of their young prospects was seen before as a strategic vision. However, against Sassuolo it became clear that there is a short-term need for these players to be assigned regular first-team berths.

When taking into consideration the errors and poor form of Abate at right-back, Montolivo in defensive midfield and Adriano up front, as well as the promising outings of Calabria, Locatelli and Niang, the youngsters have shown enough to suggest they may be better than their more experienced colleagues in the same positions.

Far from tempering their youthful revolution, Milan must now look to accelerate it.