From nearly 25 yards out, Ciurria scuffs an ambitious effort wide of the right-hand post, and that was surely the wrong option at this stage. Could that be Monza's last chance to equalise?
90' +2
Bakayoko and Tonali both make blocks on the edge of their own area, as Milan drop deep inside their defensive third. Then the ball suddenly drops to Izzo near the penalty spot, but the defender slashes at his shot and sends the ball spiralling high over the crossbar.
90'
The officials indicate a minimum of five minutes stoppage time at the end of this second half, and Milan must hold on a little while longer. They've started to tire after their efforts against Tottenham in midweek.
87'
Monza push on in search of a late equaliser, as Machin tries his luck and Pablo Mari then sees a shot blocked. Still, there's no way through for the Biancorossi, and time is running out.
83'
M. Valoti enters the game and replaces Dany Mota.
T. Bakayoko enters the game and replaces R. Krunić.
Bakayoko replaces Krunic in midfield for Milan, with the latter having got through plenty of hard work in Bennacer's absence.
Palladino's final roll of the dice sees Valoti introduced for Mota.
81'
Sensi tries a clipped throughball from around 30 yards out: not only is it overhit, though, but Gytkjaer is not on the same wavelength and the ball drifts harmlessly over the byline.
79'
A. Rebić enters the game and replaces Rafael Leão.
A frustrating shift for Leao comes to an end - on another day he could have had a hat-trick - as Rebic is thrown on for the closing stages.
77'
Monza are going more direct now, and Gytkjaer's flick-on from the edge of the box forces Krunic to concede a corner on the right-hand side. However, the hosts can't make anything of it and ultimately lose the ball.
71'
C. Gytkjær enters the game and replaces Marlon.
An attacking switch indicates Palladino's desire to salvage something from this game, as a centre-forward Gytkjaer comes on for a defender, Marlon.
Minute
Description
70'
S. Sensi enters the game and replaces N. Rovella.
Monza make two further changes, with time ticking away. First, Rovella is replaced by Sensi in central midfield.
69'
M. Thiaw gets yellow.
The bookings count climbs higher during a niggly second half, as Thiaw sees yellow for a foul on Mota.
66'
Ciurria covers across rapidly to block off a typical Hernandez surge into the opposition box, and though Milan's captain claims a penalty the referee is not at all interested.
64'
O. Giroud enters the game and replaces D. Origi.
C. De Ketelaere enters the game and replaces Brahim Díaz.
A. Saelemaekers enters the game and replaces Junior Messias.
Finally, a change on the right flanks sees goalscorer Messias make way for Saelemaekers.
Pioli decides fresh legs are needed to see this result over the line. The first substitution of a triple change sees Diaz replaced by De Ketelaere.
Origi's fruitless shift up front comes to an end; Giroud is introduced in his place.
63'
José Machín gets yellow.
For leaving a little extra on Hernandez in a challenge by the touchline, Machin is shown a yellow card only minutes after coming on.
62'
N. Rovella gets yellow.
After seeing his own shot blocked, Rovella has to chase back and recover the ball. Diaz is escaping quickly on the counter, though, so a pull on the Milan man's jersey results in a booking.
59'
F. Carboni enters the game and replaces S. Birindelli.
José Machín enters the game and replaces A. Petagna.
Carboni also comes on; in his case for Birindelli, who has just been booked.
Palladino blinks first, and introduces two substitutes on the hour mark. First, Petagna makes way for Machin.
56'
Monza build some pressure following a corner on the left, but Milan hold firm and keep the tide of Biancorossi shirts at bay.
54'
S. Birindelli gets yellow.
Birindelli hits the deck in the box under challenge from Hernandez, but rather being awarded a penalty, the referee judges he dived. He receives a booking for simulation.
53'
SAVE! After Mota bundles the ball across to Petagna on the edge of Milan's area, the latter can't catch his strike cleanly and shoots straight at Tatarusanu! That's a decent chance spurned by the big striker.
52'
Origi's cutback from the right byline is easily cut out in the centre by Pablo Mari, and the Milan striker remains a muted presence up front today.
50'
Rovella gets away with an error inside his own area, as Messias' ball over the top catches Monza out and Tonali almost capitalises on the former's clumsy header.
48'
The referee halts play after Hernandez is rather too vocal in his complaints about being grabbed by Birindelli, and after a stern chat with the Milan skipper, the action resumes.
46'
Milan kick off, and we are back under way in Monza!
45' +3
HALF-TIME: MONZA 0-1 MILAN
Origi is back in action when Messias has to track back and block the ball behind for what first appears to be a Monza corner, but it deflected back off Caprari and Milan instead have a goal-kick.
45' +1
In the first of two minutes of stoppage time indicated by the officials, Origi is felled by Izzo and requires treatment from the Milan medics. The action is brought to a halt.
44'
A flat ball over the top by Hernandez is headed away from the area by Pablo Mari, who demonstrates some authority in the Monza defence.
42'
Kalulu stands firm to stop Pessina delivering the ball into the box from the left-hand side of the area, before the referee rules that the Monza captain committed a foul in the process.
40'
Monza have crept a few yards further up the pitch over the past few minutes, perhaps spurred by falling behind. They are not used to losing at home these days, so are sure to put up a fight for the remainder of the game.
38'
Rovella's outswinging corner from the right-hand side is headed clear of the box at the near post by opening goalscorer Messias, who is back on defensive duty for Milan.
34'
R. Krunić gets yellow.
The referee doesn't hesitate to reach for his pocket, as Krunic crudely hacks down Pessina in midfield and receives a yellow card.
31'
Junior Messias has scored a goal for AC Milan!
MILAN LEAD 1-0! It's been coming! With the ball bobbling around just inside Monza's area, nobody seems to be able to take control of the situation. Messias takes decisive action, though, as the Brazilian winger takes a touch to control it with his studs before swivelling and striking at goal: it finds the bottom corner via Di Gregorio's glove, and Milan go in front!
29'
GOOD STOP! Di Gregorio is back in action again, as Tomori finds himself free on the left side of the box and unleashes a powerful strike at goal. The goalkeeper quickly flies across to tip the ball away to safety!
27'
Marlon gets yellow.
A reckless lunge from behind on Leao earns Marlon the game's first yellow card. That was a clear booking.
23'
Mota wriggles away from Tomori on the left side of the area, but his low cross is rather awkwardly controlled and drilled away to safety by Thiaw in the centre.
21'
After Leao's little dash of magic, a familiar pattern resumes: either side builds up patiently but any attacks founder as soon as they reach the final third.
17'
With either side lining up in a similar formation, they are cancelling each other out somewhat; some inspiration is needed to bring this game out of its lull.
15'
After a brief flurry of activity at the start of the game, the tempo has dropped substantially as both teams figure each other out. It's all cautious midfield fare at the moment.
11'
Following an apparently innocuous challenge in midfield, Hernandez pulls up suddenly and then drops to the turf with a grimace. Still limping a little, he eventually returns to his feet and the action continues.
9'
Too eager to chase down a throughball to the left side of the area, Mota bundles Kalulu over and concedes a free-kick. Monza are keen to close their visitors down, perhaps sensing some vulnerability given recent events.
7'
Though Origi is able to force a corner with some sharp closing down near the right byline, Milan fail to make anything of the subsequent set-piece.
5'
Milan's first effort at goal sees Origi's shot from the left side of the box saved quite comfortably in the centre of the goal by Di Gregorio.
1'
The hosts kick off, and we are under way at Stadio Brianteo!
Hello and welcome to live coverage of today's Serie A clash between Monza and Milan at Stadio Brianteo!
Separated by a chasm in terms of history, but only five places in the Serie A standings, today Monza host Milan for the first time ever in the Italian top flight. The Biancorossi's unbeaten start to 2023 has seen them recover from a shaky start to the season, which included a 4-1 defeat to their Lombardy rivals at San Siro. They followed up a second win of the campaign over Juventus by beating Bologna 1-0 last weekend, and since Raffalele Palladino took charge in September, they have accrued 28 points from 16 games - with only Napoli, Juventus and Inter picking up more during that time. In fact, that tally represents one more than Milan.
After back-to-back wins halted their mid-season slide, Milan aim to continue their revival at the expense of their near neighbours today. A seven-game winless run - which included two defeats to city rivals Inter - has seen them slide some 21 points adrift of league leaders Napoli, and with their Scudetto defence all but over, the Rossoneri's main target is to finish inside the top four. After beating Torino last week, Stefano Pioli's men returned to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in nine years; edging last-16 opponents Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at San Siro and nicely setting up that tie's second leg next month.
MONZA (3-4-2-1): Michele Di Gregorio; Armando Izzo, Pablo Mari, Marlon Santos; Samuele Birindelli, Matteo Pessina, Nicolo Rovella, Patrick Ciurria; Dany Mota, Gianluca Caprari; Andrea Petagna.
SUBS: Alessio Cragno, Alessandro Sorrentino, Jose Machin, Valentin Antov, Franco Carboni, Marco D'Alessandro, Andrea Barberis, Filippo Ranocchia, Stefano Sensi, Giulio Donati, Andrea Colpani, Luca Caldirola, Christian Gytkjaer, Mattia Valoti.
MILAN (3-4-3): Ciprian Tatarusanu; Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw; Junior Messias, Sandro Tonali, Rade Krunic, Theo Hernandez; Brahim Diaz, Divock Origi, Rafael Leao.
SUBS: Antonio Mirante, Devis Vasquez, Fode Ballo-Toure, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergino Dest, Olivier Giroud, Yacine Adli, Simon Kjaer, Alexis Saelemaekers, Ante Rebic, Tommaso Pobega, Charles de Ketelaere, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Aster Vranckx, Matteo Gabbia.
The players are out on the pitch as the sun sets in Monza, and kick-off is now just moments away!
Milan are unbeaten in their last 12 Serie A matches when leading at half-time (W10, D2) dating back to last January, so even accounting for their recent mid-season wobble, the Rossoneri are firm favourites to seal the deal during the second half.
While Monza must recover from seeing their unbeaten start to Serie A's second phase ended before they face Salernitana next week, Milan are at home to another local side, Atalanta, in eight days time.
That's all from Monza today, so thank you for joining us and goodbye!
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