Lookman’s late winner condemns the Rossoneri to a damning defeat

AC Milan’s chances of a top four finish were dealt a major blow on Friday night when they were beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium.

The first goal of the game went to Charles De Ketelaere when he headed in a pass from a free-kick, although Milan equalized when Alvaro Morata scored from a cross from Rafael Leao.

When it looked like a draw was on the cards, Ademola Lookman popped up at the far post to head home from a cross and continue Atalanta’s brilliant run.

The result means Milan have now gone 12 points behind their Lombardy neighbors and the Scudetto dream is definitely gone before the end of 2024.

Rather unreasonably, Paulo Fonseca made eight changes from the side that beat Sassuolo in the cup in midweek, bringing back the likes of Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Matteo Gabbia, Christian Pulisic and Alvaro Morata.

Milan could have taken the lead after just 13 seconds when a ball in behind the Atalanta defense was met by Christian Pulisic’s diagonal run. Similar to Davide Calabria’s opener in 2022-23, his run went unchecked but he shot straight at goalkeeper Carnesecchi.

The home side took the lead with the game’s next chance, and it came through a fairly predictable source: Charles De Ketelare. A free-kick taken from the left by De Roon was met by the Belgian’s head, which headed in at the back post with Maignan well beaten.

In the 22nd minute, Milan pulled back on level terms with what was a wonderful goal. Theo Hernandez threaded the ball through to Leao down the left and he played a brilliant ball across the six-yard box that was hammered home first time by Morata.

The home side could have got back in front in the 24th minute when Maignan made a smart stop to keep out Bellanova’s right-footed shot from close range.

There was a worrying sign for Milan in the 38th minute when Pulisic pulled off with what looked like a hamstring injury and Fonseca brought on Ruben Loftus-Cheek to replace him.

The second half descended into a real tactical battle where it looked like Atalanta were happy to let Milan have the ball and try to bait them with the press hoping to catch them off guard in transition.

In the 75th minute, the Rossoneri had an opportunity to go in front when substitute Loftus-Cheek did well to get to the right touchline and cut a ball back to Musah, who sent a shot wide inside the box.

Another substitution came for Milan in the 78th minute when Morata came off and was replaced by Tammy Abraham.

Just as it looked like the game was filtering towards a draw, Atalanta stole it at the death. A corner in the 87th minute was kicked on by Kolasinac and buried by Ademola Lookman at the far post.

Maignan produced a superb save in the second of five minutes added on at the end of the 90 minutes to deny Mateo Retegui after he had been put through on goal, but the hosts would claim all three points.