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At 3:45 a.m. Beijing time on March 13, the 29th round of Serie A ushered in a match, and AC Milan faced Empoli at home. AC Milan have a very good league record this season, winning 18 of the first 28 league rounds, occupying the top spot and being the favourite to win the title. However, AC Milan and the title rivals behind them did not open a significant gap. AC Milan need to keep winning to keep staying at the top of the table. This time AC Milan played against Empoli, who was 13th in the league. Empoli hasn't won in a long time, and against an opponent of this level, AC Milan, who plays at home, is bound to win.
In this game AC Milan lined up in a 4231 formation. Menion served as the starting goalkeeper. Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori and Florenzi form a four-back. Tonali and Benacell paired up at the back. Messias, Casey and Raphael Leo joined forces. Giroud was at the top. Ibrahimovic, Rebić, Díaz, Castilejo, Klunic and Salmales sat on the bench.
Shortly after the start of the game, it entered the rhythm of AC Milan, and under the attack of AC Milan, Empoli had a hard time organizing a decent attack. Florenzi's long-range shot was extremely threatening but was deflected by the goalkeeper. Olivier Giroud's free-kick was blocked, but Kalulu's long-range shot broke the goal. AC Milan attacked wave after wave, but the quality of the shots was not high, and players such as Olivier Giroud, Florenzi and Casey wasted some good chances. At the end of the half, AC Milan had just a one-goal lead. AC Milan had 55% possession in the first half, scoring 1 goal on target with 5 shots on target. Empoli, on the other hand, had just one shot on goal in the first half and hadn't been able to shoot right.
In the second half, Empoli stepped up his attack, a wave of attack that was very sharp, but it was all defused by Menion. Empoli then fell silent. Ac Milan, who has the advantage, plays unhurriedly and slowly, while Messias is more aggressive, he tries to shoot many times, the quality of the shot is not good, and he has never been able to score. Pioli only began making substitutions in the 71st minute, replacing Diaz and Saler Markles. After 10 minutes Pioli continued to make substitutions, with Ibrahimovic and Rebić coming on. But these substitutions have no effect. The final score was set at 1-0, and AC Milan narrowly beat Empoli. AC Milan finished 1st in the league with 63 points, but the pressure was also very high, and the strong teams behind them were like clouds. Currently, AC Milan is only seven points ahead of Juve.
In the post-match whoscored rating, Kalulu scored a game-high 8.3 points, scoring a goal worth thousands of gold, and five steals, two clearances and one interception, and his performance on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends was impeccable. Olivier Giroud was a bit depressed, with only 1 of his 7 shots on goal and 0 goals. Messias shot 2 shots, although they were all on target, but they were played too straight, and they were easily confiscated by the goalkeeper, and he scored 7.3 points.