Cagliari achieved a feat, closing out Serie A by beating Milan at the Meazza, where they hadn't won with the Rossoneri since June 1, 1997. The 2-1 win was scored by Borrelli and Juan Rodríguez, meaning the former Allegri side will miss out on the Champions League.
After a few minutes of waiting to assess the situation at the Olimpico , referee Guida called the game to begin. Cagliari got off to a difficult start , with Zé Pedro booked after less than ninety seconds and Milan taking the lead in the second minute: Tomori's long ball from midfield was met by Giménez in the box, who headed it away and Saelemaekers capitalized on Mina's hesitation to control the ball and fire home with his right foot .
The Rossoblù took a while to get going, finally doing so in the 14th minute with a right-footed effort from Gaetano that went wide after a blocked corner. But they equalized in the 20th minute, following a powerful right-footed effort from Gaetano that Maignan cleared from the top corner. From Obert's corner, Mina's header to the far post was deflected by Tomori, and Borrelli did a brilliant job sliding in the six-yard box to turn it into the net .
The 1-1 draw unnerved Milan, who were forced to win to avoid any risks given the situation in Turin. In the 22nd minute, a corner from the right, Rabiot's header went over Juan Rodríguez, but his aerial deflection missed the target. Nkunku had the best chance in the 27th minute, freed by an assist from Saelemaekers, but his right-footed effort was saved in two stages by Caprile . On the half-hour mark, Fofana missed the opportunity to make it 2-1 with an off-target header that Caprile easily saved.
Maignan came close to a huge goal in the 37th minute, failing to hold onto a harmless Zappa cross and leaving it loose on the edge of the six-yard box. Tomori cleared the ball, beating Deiola . Immediately afterward, Esposito made a brilliant move, beating Tomori on the byline and crossing to Adopo, who was providentially intercepted by Bartesaghi. Pavlović then cleared the ball after Zappa's cross. The Rossoblu were back in the 39th minute, when Deiola stunned a right-footed shot from a central position just inside the box following a Zappa cross (Maignan saved).
Milan came back in the 40th minute, with a Rabiot cross deflected wide by Giménez (though if they'd scored, Cagliari would have been saved due to an offside violation). The break followed a minute of injury time, where Gaetano doubled Fofana in style and fired over from the edge of the box with his right foot, scaring Milan once again (and the fans booed at halftime).
The restart begins with a substitution for Allegri, with Giménez coming off (a disappointing season for the Mexican striker, zero goals in seventeen Serie A appearances in 941 minutes played) and Pulišić coming on. And for Milan, but not for Cagliari, who are already safe, there's also the novelty of the Torino-Juventus kick-off (at 9:50 PM), while the second half at the Meazza and elsewhere gets underway at 9:59 PM . Rabiot tries his hand at a solo move in the 51st minute, his toe-tip shot from just inside the box goes over.
Zé Pedro failed to capitalize on a good opportunity in the 52nd minute. He had a free shot from a corner from the right, taken to the near post, but instead of heading it, it hit his shoulder: the header went wide. But in the 57th minute, the Rossoblu took the lead: Esposito did well to win a free kick on the left (fouled by Pavlović), Gaetano fired to the near post, where in the melee, Gaetano's left-footed shot was blocked by Maignan, but Juan Rodríguez headed the rebound into the six-yard box . Milan protested, claiming a foul by a Cagliari player; the referee and VAR upheld the foul, and Maignan was booked.
Goals from other venues unfavorable to the Rossoneri infuriated Allegri, who made a triple substitution in the 62nd minute : Tomori, Nkunku, and Jashari went off, bringing on Athekame, Füllkrug, and the last-minute recovery from Modrić. Immediately afterward, Pisacane brought off Juan Rodríguez, who scored the 1-2 goal, for Dossena, and the booked Zé Pedro for Palestra. After several minutes, play resumed, with Rabiot's left-footed shot going wide in the 68th minute, while Rafael Leão replaced Fofana.
Cagliari had two chances to make it 3-1 in the 73rd minute: Palestra crossed for Borrelli to fire a right-footed shot from the edge of the box, but Maignan stretched to his left and then also saved Zappa's rebound from a tight angle . At the other end, substitute Rafael Leão crossed for Rabiot, who fired a half-bicycle kick over the bar (75'). A minute later, Gabbia replaced his goalkeeper to block Adopo's shot from inside the box. Maignan again in the 78th minute, firing a right-footed shot from the edge of the box by Gaetano following a blocked corner.
Pulišić made a strong run into the box from the right in the 84th minute, but as he was about to shoot, the ball bounced strangely and flew over. On the ensuing counterattack, Cagliari ran forward, with Esposito passing to Mendy (with Palestra calling for the ball on the right), whose pass to Sulemana was blocked by the Milan defense. Mendy, however, produced a tremendous counterattack in the 87th minute. He was launched alone in the opponent's half, facing Maignan, but his shot was weak and allowed a save by the Rossoneri goalkeeper .
In the second of five minutes of injury time, Esposito again ignores Palestra on the counterattack, his right-footed shot from the edge of the area going over. In the 95th minute, Pisacane sends on Felici, returning to the field almost six months after suffering a knee injury on December 3rd in Naples (Esposito comes off) . After a parried free kick, Guida blows the final whistle, and Milan are in for a psychological drama.