Winning Against Empoli, AC Milan Continues To Hunt Juventus

AC Milan players celebrate Chaka Traore's goal in the match against Empoli. (X/@acmilan)

JAKARTA - AC Milan won their first away win in the new year. In an away match at the Castelani Computer Gross Arena Stadium, Sunday, January 7 evening WIB, Milan won 3-0 over Empoli which allowed them to hunt Juventus.

Milan showed consistency in various competitions. After beating Cagliari 4-1 in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia, the Rossoneri continued their positive trend by beating Empoli.

This result made Milan unbeaten in the last five matches in various competitions. Milan only drew once when they met Salernitana. In the other four matches, they always won.

This impressive achievement made Milan begin to approach Juventus. The victory over Empoli made Milan pocket 39 pounds.

Only Stefano Pioli's team is still four points adrift of Juve who is in second place. However, Juve has the opportunity to stay away from Milan if they beat Salernitana, Monday, January 8 on WIB.

Meanwhile, Empoli is still stuck in the relegation zone. Ranked 19 or second from below with 13 points, Empoli is in danger of dropping to Serie B next season.

In that match, Milan made an impressive start. The game has only been running for 11 minutes, Milan has taken the lead through midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The England player who has scored two goals this season has successfully completed Rafael Leao's assist.

The goal made Milan even more enthusiastic about suppressing the opponent's defense. As a result, Milan did not take long to increase their advantage.

This time, striker Olivier Giroud who changed the score to 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 31st minute. Penalti was awarded after player Emoli Youssef Maleh handball in the forbidden box.

Referee Federico La Penna inspected the incident via VAR regarding Maleh's violation. As a result, Males was declared to have touched the ball so the referee pointed to the spot.

Maleh had protested against La Penna's decision. But the referee did not heed.

Giroud also completed the penalty execution. The score with a two-goal advantage for Milan lasted until the end of the first half.

In the second half, Milan continued to show dominance. At least there is a chance through Loftus-Cheek which is still wide.

Furthermore, Christian Pulisic's shot was parried by goalkeeper Elia Caprile. Including Rafael Leao's cross, Caprile could also fail to play brilliantly.

Empoli also gave resistance. Goalkeeper Mike Maignan recorded a shot from striker Nicolo Cambiaghi in the 70th minute.

Furthermore, Francesco Caputo's efforts could still be thwarted by Theo Hernandez and resulted in only a corner.

Despite being under pressure, Milan actually managed to take advantage of the gap to strengthen their advantage.

Through a counter-attack, the visitors scored again through Chaka Traore. He completed a pass from Pulisic in the 88th minute. No more goals were created. Milan also closed the match with a score of 3-0.