AC Milan holds on to protect unbeaten start

  • AC Milan remains unbeaten across its first six games in Serie A this season, but had to hold onto a point in a 1-1 draw with Sassuolo at MAPEI Stadium.

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Adrien Rabiot put Ruben Amorim's side in front just after the hour with a brilliant strike, but Cas Odenthal swiftly cancelled it out to share the spoils.

The game took some time to spark into life, with Darryl Bakola blazing a long-range effort over early on before Vasilije Adzic and Armand Lauriente also failed to hit the target for Sassuolo.

Rabiot glanced a header clear of the crossbar after the half-hour mark, but Milan turned up the pressure during the nine minutes of first-half stoppage time.

Diego Moreira improvised a volley under pressure, which Arijanet Muric pushed away, and the goalkeeper also smothered Strahinja Pavlovic's far-post header.

Milan saw a penalty shout waved away after Duje Caleta-Car appeared to drag down Goncalo Ramos, who then curled a speculative effort wide from the left.

However, it was Luka Modric's half-time introduction that helped turn the tide as he linked up a lovely Milan move before threading it into Rabiot, who rifled in a tight-angled effort from the left of the box in the 63rd minute.

Sassuolo responded well, with Mike Maignan making a double save to keep out Kieron Bowie and Kristian Thorstvedt, who will feel he should have done better with his back-heel flick.

But Odenthal restored parity five minutes later, squeezing his poked shot through the crowded box from a corner.

Sassuolo then thought it had found an 88th-minute winner when Thorstvedt fired in from close range, but the referee's whistle had already gone after Ramos went down under a challenge from Bowie.