Reggio Emilia: Rafael Leao scored the fastest-ever goal in Serie A as AC Milan beat Sassuolo 2-1 at the Mapei Stadium on Sunday (December 20). Alexis Saelemaekers netted the other for the Rossoneri while Domenico Berardi scored one for the home side.
Milan lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Alessio Romagnoli being paired with Pierre Kalulu at the heart of the defence. Franck Kessié along with Sandro Tonali formed a double pivot in the midfield. Leão shared the forward line alongside Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Saelemaekers with Brahim Díaz playing as a no.10 behind them.
The match started with a stunner as Leao scored within just six seconds into the game, the fastest in the history of Serie A after Calhanoglu put on a plate for the Portuguese forward splitting the Sassuolo defence.
They extended their lead courtesy of Saelemaekers who finished off after full-back Theo Hernandez completed a surging run into the box before squaring it off for the Belgian. Towards the end of the first half, the home side looked when going on the attack but were unable to open their account.
Milan however, were finding it difficult to control the tempo in the later parts of the half. The home side finally took the lead whey got a free-kick from a close range with Domenico Berardi curling that one beating Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma taking a deflection in its path but it wasn’t enough as Stefano Pioli’s men took full three-point to retain their dominance at the top of the points table.
