Milan 1-1 Cagliari: Zortea denies Conceicao first Serie A win

Milan were held to a 1-1 draw at San Siro by relegation-battlers Cagliari on Saturday in Sergio Conceicao’s Serie A debut.

The hosts dominated the entire match but struggled to get going in the first half, with Mattia Felici actually coming closest to breaking the deadlock as he forced a fine save out of Mike Maignan.

Milan started the second half on the front foot though with Christian Pulisic rattling the bar with a half-volley from the edge of the box shortly after the break.

They eventually got their reward in the 51st minute – Alvaro Morata was perfectly placed to turn in from close range after Pulisic’s low volley had struck the post.

However, Cagliari stunned the hosts four minutes later after a counter-attack, with defender Nadir Zortea scoring with a low shot from outside the box.

Milan kept pushing, with Elia Caprile making superb saves to deny Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Theo Hernandez, who was denied in the closing seconds.

Conceicao’s side sit eighth in the standings on 28 points, eight points behind fourth-placed Lazio, but with two games in hand. Cagliari are 18th with 18 points.

It finishes in a draw at San Siro #MilanCagliari #SempreMilan
Brought to you by @Bitpanda_global pic.twitter.com/hxN7xfXz6V

— AC Milan (@acmilan) January 11, 2025

Data Debrief: Milan rue wasted chances

Conceicao’s previous two matches in charge of Milan have seen the team go behind, even if they did come back to win them both en route to winning the Supercoppa Italiana.

So it was somewhat new territory for the new boss when Morata’s fifth goal of the season gave them the lead at the start of what was a dominant second half.

Milan, overall, had 24 chances with 11 of those on target after they created 2.14 expected goals (xG), with 16 of those shots coming after the break.

However, one defensive lapse in concentration cost them three points. Zortea has now scored four league goals this season, a joint-high among defenders in the top five European leagues – level with Willi Orban, Lukas Kublar and Josko Gvardiol.