A second half Krzysztof Piatek penalty was enough for AC Milan as they beat Hellas Verona 1-0 at the Stadio Bentegodi on Sunday evening.
The Rossoneri struggled to break down their opponents, who had Maruisz Stepinski sent off after 20 minutes, and went in at the break without a shot on target.
Nevertheless, Milan piled on the pressure in the second 45 minutes and eventually were awarded for their efforts when the ball struck the arm of Koray Gunter in the box, not that he knew much about it.
Piatek then converted the resulting spot kick which takes Milan sixth in the Serie A table.
The away side didn’t have it all their own way as a cross from Davide Faraoni was first palmed into the area by Gianluigi Donnarumma, then an overhead kick by Mattia Zaccagni was blocked by the Milan goalkeeper.
However, 20 minutes in his Verona debut Maruisz Stepinski was sent off for a high boot which caught Mateo Musacchio in the face. Referee Gianluca Manganiello originally gave a yellow card, but after VAR review upgraded to a red.
Nevertheless, Verona should have taken the lead when a brilliant long ball from Amir Rrahmani was controlled on the edge of the penalty area by Valerio Verre but he could only fire just over the bar.
After the break, Milan had Verona pinned in their own half and went close through Davide Calabria who hit the post with the long range effort.
Not to be outdone, Verona did exactly the same at the other end, as Verre side-footed onto the upright from a Darko Lazovic cross.
Milan then took the lead just after the hour after a Calhanoglu shot hit the arm of Gunter just inside the box. Piatek stepped up and slotted home his first of the season.
It looked like Piatek had his second late on, nipping in front of Marco Silvestri to poke into the net from six yards. But it was ruled out by VAR for a foul on the goalkeeper.
Calabria was then sent off in the final moments for a dangerous tackle on Matteo Pessina.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com