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Commentary
Minute
Description
90' +4
FULL-TIME: MILAN 3-0 SPAL
90' +3
Suso tries to bend a curling strike through a crowd of players, but he sees his effort charged down by a crowd of defendersd on the edge of the box.
90' +2
Salamon does well to stop Piatek latching on to Suso's offload into the right inside channel, steering the ball behind for a corner under pressure.
90'
There will be four minutes of added time.
86'
F. Zanchetta enters the game and replaces B. Dabo.
Dabo makes way for Zanchetta for the visitors.
84'
B. Salamon gets yellow.
Salamon loses possession and then cynically brings down Piatek to stop a Milan counter from his mistake. The defender is booked by the referee.
82'
M. Gabbia enters the game and replaces S. Kjær.
Kjaer comes through his first Milan start and is replaced by Gabbia.
79'
Suso clips a cross over the top of the SPAL backline looking for the run of Hernandez, but it just evades the run of the full-back at the back post.
77'
Pioli will be pleased with his side's performance up to now, but he will want them to see out the clean sheet to keep building the resilience they've displayed since their defeat to Atalanta.
75'
Lucas Paquetá enters the game and replaces G. Bonaventura.
Paqueta comes on to the field to replace Bonaventura in the Milan midfield.
Minute
Description
74'
Bonaventura tries to get the better of Vicari in the left inside channel on the byline, but the midfielder loses the ball out for a goal-kick.
72'
M. Valoti enters the game and replaces M. Janković.
Igor Julio gets yellow.
Valoti comes on to the pitch to replace Jankovic in the middle of the park.
Julio pulls back Krunic on the charge and goes into the book.
68'
SPAL break on the counter and Dabo goes for a strike from distance that is deflected behind by Romagnoli.
66'
T. Hernández has scored a goal for AC Milan!
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! HERNANDEZ SCORES MILAN'S THIRD!!!! 3-0!!!! The Rossoneri are on their way to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia as Hernandez provides a blistering strike to find the net. He latches on to a loose ball in the SPAL half following a misplaced pass from Murgia. He surges forward to the edge of the box and is afforded space and time to pick his spot, blasting an effort into the bottom-right corner.
65'
B. Salamon enters the game and replaces N. Tomović.
Salamon replaces Tomovic, who is unable to continue after Rebic's challenge.
64'
Suso enters the game and replaces Samu Castillejo.
Castillejo has been influential this evening and is replaced by Suso for the home side.
61'
A. Murgia gets yellow.
Murgia goes into the book for a foul on Castillejo.
59'
SAVE! Castillejo threads a pass to Bonaventura on the edge of the box and he gets the ball out of his feet to strike on his left foot with power. Berisha watches it all the way and claims the strike.
53'
Romagnoli looks for the early ball over the top to find Piatek, but the forward is caught offside.
49'
Bonaventura surges down the left and he fires a dangerous cross into the middle that is deflected into the air by Vicari before Berisha catches it to ease the pressure on the visitors.
46'
We're back underway at San Siro.
45' +1
HALF-TIME: MILAN 2-0 SPAL
45'
There will be one minute of added time.
44'
Samu Castillejo has scored a goal for AC Milan! Assist by K. Piątek.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! CASTILLEJO SCORES A STUNNER!!!! 2-0!! The Rossoneri extend their advantage just before the break courtesy of a fine strike from the forward. Piatek leads the home side forward on a counter before sliding a pass to Castillejo in the right inside channel. He cuts back to shoot on his left foot, and he curls his effort into the top-left corner with a sublime strike.
Piatek raids forward and spots Castillejo in space. He offloads to the forward, who collects and scores.
41'
Samu Castillejo gets yellow.
Castillejo tries to slide to win possession ahead of Jankovic, but he catches the midfielder late. The Milan forward is booked for the tackle.
39'
Milan win a corner down the right flank and Castillejo floats his cross to the back post. Krunic rises unmarked, but he's off balance due to the height of the delivery and can only glance his effort wide of the target.
37'
OVER! Strefezza gets forward in support as he collects a pass from Paloschi, but he blasts his right-footed strike from 25 yards over the bar.
35'
Castillejo leads a break out for the home side and offloads to Piatek down the right flank. He sends a low cross into the middle, but it evades his team-mates.
33'
A. Conti gets yellow.
Conti wipes out Dabo down the SPAL left flank and goes into the book.
31'
Piatek makes a driving run at the SPAL backline and he offloads to the left for Rebic. However, the forward loses possession too easily in the final third once again for the Rossoneri.
30'
SPAL are being restricted to efforts from distance and Tunjov is the latest player to try his luck, only to blast his effort over the bar from 25 yards.
28'
Rebic makes a neat move to break away from his man in the final third and has support from team-mates on the edge of the box, but he can only pick out Vicari.
27'
Floccari finds space to turn and shoot inside the Milan box, but he places a tame effort straight into the hands of Donnarumma.
25'
OVER! SPAL build an attack well across the pitch from left to right. Tomovic gets forward to combine with Strefezza before Dabo launches a strike from distance, but his effort soars over the bar.
23'
Tunjov is played into space down the left flank and he cuts back to float a cross into the box, but it sails harmlessly behind for a goal-kick to Milan.
20'
K. Piątek has scored a goal for AC Milan! Assist by I. Bennacer.
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! PIATEK PUTS MILAN AHEAD!!! 1-0!!! The home side convert their opening this time. Bennacer releases Piatek through on goal with a precise pass through the middle of the SPAL defence. Piatek holds his composure to slot his effort past the onrushing Berisha into the back of the net.
Bennacer threads the needle to release Piatek, who does the rest with a fine finish.
18'
Castillejo collects in the final third once more, but this time he uses his hand to control the ball, giving away a free-kick.
14'
Krunic runs at the SPAL defence and works a pass towards Rebic in the left inside channel. He tries to cut a low ball towards the near post for Piatek, but Berisha gets there ahead of the forward.
13'
Tunjov cuts inside from the left flank and sends a low cross into the box that is well cleared by Romagnoli.
10'
Milan have made a good start to the contest and appear to have built a semblance of momentum from their win over Cagliari.
5'
Vicari catches Piatek in an aerial duel and the home side get a free-kick inside the SPAL half.
4'
Hernandez and Bonaventura combine down the left flank, but it results a poor cross from the latter travelling behind for a goal-kick.
1'
We're underway at San Siro.
Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Coppa Italia round-of-16 clash between Milan and SPAL at San Siro.
Milan secured a much-needed win in Serie A last week, beating Cagliari 2-0 on the road. Zlatan Ibrahimovic notched his first goal since returning to the club on loan in the victory, while Rafael Leao scored the other for Stefano Pioli's men. The Rossoneri are off the pace in the league therefore they will be determined for a deep surge in the Coppa Italia. They reached the semi-finals of the competition last year, but will be aiming to go one better this time around.
SPAL are rock bottom of Serie A, but they did hammer Lecce 5-1 in the last round of the Coppa Italia to set up their contest with Milan this afternoon. Their recent form has been poor, suffering back-to-back defeats since returning from the winter break. SPAL lost 2-0 at home to Hellas Verona before being defeated 1-0 by Fiorentina last time out. Leonardo Semplici's men need a strong performance at San Siro to keep their cup hopes alive.
MILAN (4-3-3): Antonio Donnarumma; Andrea Conti, Simon Kjaer, Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Giacomo Bonaventura, Ismael Bennacer, Rade Krunic; Samu Castillejo, Krzysztof Piatek, Ante Rebic.
SPAL (3-5-2): Etrit Berisha; Nenad Tomovic, Francesco Vicari, Igor Julio; Marko Jankovic, Alessandro Murgia, Georgi Tunjov, Bryan Dabo, Gabriel Strefezza; Alberto Paloschi, Sergio Floccari.
SPAL SUBS: Thiago Cionek, Mattia Valoti, Arkadiusz Reca, Demba Thiam, Karlo Letica, Federico Di Francesco, Bartosz Salamon, Paolo Connistra, Jaume Cuellar, Federico Zanchetta, Riccardo Mastrilli.
The players are making their way out on to the pitch, so we should be underway shortly.
The Rossoneri are looking composed in the final third, which will please Pioli given his side's indifferent form over the course of the season. Before the winter break, they were battered by Atalanta, suffering their heaviest defeat since 1998. They have kept back-to-back clean sheets since and they will be determined to make it three on the bounce.
MILAN SUBS: Asmir Begovic, Suso, Rafael Leao, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lucas Paqueta, Matteo Gabbia, Franck Kessie, Matteo Soncin, Marco Brescianini, Daniel Maldini.
Milan are next in action at home in Serie A on Sunday against Udinese, while SPAL take on Atalanta in their next match on the road on Monday.
Thanks for joining our commentary this evening. Until next time, goodbye.
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