AC Milan 2-0 Monza: Joao Felix seals comfortable win with brilliant free-kick
Joao Felix and Matteo Gabbia got on the scoresheet to seal a straightforward win for AC Milan in their final match of the season.
AC Milan secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Monza on Saturday, with second-half goals from Matteo Gabbia and Joao Felix paving the way.
The Rossoneri dominated the first half at San Siro to no avail, with Strahinja Pavlovic, Tijjani Reijnders and Christian Pulisic all squandering good chances.
Pavlovic's early free-kick was parried off the line by Monza goalkeeper Semuel Pizzignacco, while Reijnders and Pulisic failed to find the target from inside the box.
Monza, to their credit, forced Milan back and Keita Balde thought he had given the visitors an unlikely lead on the stroke of half-time, but the referee ruled out the goal for offside and the decision was upheld following a VAR review.
Milan raced out the blocks strongly in the second half, with Joao Felix seeing a well-placed header denied by the bar before Gabbia nodded home off Samuel Chukwueze's teasing corner in the 64th minute to break the deadlock.
Felix then doubled the lead ten minutes later with a stellar free-kick from 25 yards out, curling his shot just past Pizzignacco's fingertips.
The result takes Milan up to seventh place in the table, with eighth-placed Fiorentina facing Udinese on Sunday. Monza, meanwhile, finish the season in 20th place and will return to Serie B next season, where they will be hoping to mount a promotion push once again.
Data Debrief: A season of struggles for Milan
It has been a season to forget for Milan, who have won just nine Serie A matches at home.
Saturday's victory over Monza marked their first back-to-back home wins since October of last year (after beating Bologna last time out).
Milan are also set to finish outside the European qualification spots for the first time since 2015-16, when they ended the season in seventh place.
Despite their struggles, Saturday’s outing was a largely positive one for Sergio Conceicao, who saw his side create a host of chances at an expected goals (xG) of 1.42, while Monza's struggles were made evident by their modest 0.33 xG.