Magical Monza makes a mess of Milan's title push
Monza claimed an historic first win over AC Milan, winning a thriller 4-2 at to deny Stefano Pioli's side the opportunity to leapfrog Juventus into second place on the Serie A table.
Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota put the hosts into a shock lead in the first half before substitutes Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic pulled Milan level late in the second after Luka Jovic had been sent off for violent conduct in the 52nd minute.
Pulisic no doubt thought he'd rescued a point for the Rossoneri, but the visitors were caught on the break again minutes after his superb leveller and Warren Bondo produced an equally stunning finish to put Monza back in front.
Lorenzo Colombo, on loan from Milan, secured the hosts all three points in the dying minutes to leave his parent club and its travelling support utterly shell shocked.
Milan remains third in the standings on 52 points, two adrift of second-placed Juventus and 11 behind leader Inter Milan, the only one of the top three sides to have claimed a victory in this round of fixtures.
There was a lengthy stoppage from the 36th minute when Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio came to punch out a corner and clashed heads with team-mate Andrea Carboni.
Both players needed treatment for cuts and were bandaged up, before it was decided Di Gregorio could not continue and Alessandro Sorrentino came on in goal.
When the action resumed, Monza was awarded its penalty after a poorly-timed challenge from Milan defender Malick Thiaw on Dany Mota. Pessina rolled the spot-kick into the bottom-right corner.
Milan immediately went on the offensive, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek nodding down a cross into the path of Jovic, whose volley was charged down by Pablo Mari before Hernandez fired the rebound over.
Monza, though, doubled its lead in first-half stoppage-time.
Andrea Colpani snatched the ball off Ismael Bennacer and darted away down the right before playing in Mota on the overlap, with the midfielder cutting back inside to clip a deflected finish into the far corner.
Milan’s night got even worse just six minutes into the second half when Jovic was sent off for lashing out at Armando Izzo as the pair jostled near the centre circle. Having initially only been shown a yellow card, the striker was shown a red one by the referee after a VAR review.
Rossoneri boss Pioli made an attacking change as Giroud replaced Bennacer in the 55th minute.
The French striker pulled a goal back after 64 minutes when he volleyed in Pulisic’s flicked header in the six-yard box.
Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan made a smart save to push over an angled shot from Samuele Birindelli before at the other end, Loftus-Cheek’s towering header dropped straight at Sorrentino.
Pulisic, who had been sent on at the start of the second half, fired Milan level with two minutes left after cutting inside onto his left foot and rifling an angled drive into the far corner.
Monza, though, snatched the lead once again when Bondo whipped a fine 18-yard strike into the top-right corner, the goal allowed to stand after a VAR check for a possible offside in the build-up.
In stoppage-time, on-loan forward Colombo added a fourth after another breakaway as Milan chased the game, drilling a low shot into the bottom corner to seal an historic result for the provincial minnow.
