THAT MIGHT DO IT! Milan throwing everything forward and they catch a big break as two Empoli defenders go for the same ball, and wind up knocking it straight to Bakayoko, but his first-time effort from 10 yards is straight at Terracciano!
90' +2
ANOTHER SAVE! This one a bit easier for Terracciano, with Suso the shooter once again, twisting and turning in the penalty area before driving a right-footed effort towards the near post. The ensuing corner is met by an acrobatic effort from Laxalt at the far post, but he can't make good contact as it rolls tamely behind.
90'
All sorts of pressure being applied on the Empoli goal here by Milan as the board goes up to indicate a minimum of four minutes to be added on.
88'
WHAT. A. SAVE! That's a brilliant and vital piece of goalkeeping from Terracciano who dives at full stretch to his left and gets his fingertips to Suso's terrific effort, turning it just onto the other side of the post! That looked destined to find a way in!
84'
THAT HAD TO BE IN! Musacchio and Romagnoli go for the same ball there as a cross in whipped in to the far post, and neither can get their head to it as they get in each other's way! A real letoff for Empoli!
83'
D. Laxalt gets yellow.
Laxalt becomes the fourth player booked in the match.
82'
PENALTY APPEALS DENIED! Mchedlidze goes on a strong run forward, somehow finding his way into the penalty area despite some clumsy dribbling. He goes to ground as Bakayoko arrives with cover, and shouts for a penalty, but the referee is rightfully having none of it.
81'
M. Brighi enters the game and replaces H. Traorè.
The hosts make their final change with just under 10 minutes as they bring on Brighi, who has played for a number of clubs in his long Serie A career, in place of Traore.
80'
A worry for Cutrone who is spotted limping all of a sudden. He may have re-aggravated his ankle injury here, and that would be a massive blow to Milan for a number of reasons, including the fact that they are out of substitutions and in need of a goal here.
Minute
Description
78'
T. Bakayoko enters the game and replaces F. Kessié.
Milan's final change sees Chelsea loanee Bakayoko, who still has yet to make his first start for the club, replace Kessie.
77'
SMART SAVE! Wonderful reactions from Terracciano, who manages to get down to his right in a hurry to parry Suso's volley from close range, on the end of a clever dink over the top!
75'
J. Rasmussen enters the game and replaces L. Capezzi.
And now it's Empoli's turn to make their second change, as they bring on another centre-half in Rasmussen, who replaces Capezzi. The hosts are hoping to close up shop now.
73'
P. Cutrone enters the game and replaces F. Borini.
Samu Castillejo enters the game and replaces H. Çalhanoğlu.
That equaliser makes for an easy decision for Gattuso, who has no choice but to bring Cutrone on here for the final 15 minutes, replacing Borini. Can he prove the difference maker for Milan?
Castillejo is brought on as well for Milan, replacing Calhanoglu.
71'
Penalty goal scored by F. Caputo for Empoli!
PARITY RESTORED! 1-1! A wonderful penalty bu Caputo who powers it straight down the middle and into the roof of the net! No chance for Donnarumma and Empoli are back on level terms!
70'
The referee will consult with VAR here to make sure, under heavy protests by Milan, but all signs point to this one standing.
69'
PENALTY TO EMPOLI! A dreadful giveaway from Romagnoli inside his own penalty area, as he puts his side under all sorts of trouble! It's quickly played square for Caputo, who is chopped down by a scrambling Biglia!
67'
Gattuso's first change will say a lot about how he hopes to approach these last 20 minutes. They're looking assured in defence, but another goal would go a long way. They were comfortable against Atalanta as well on Sunday, until being pegged back in stoppage-time.
65'
L. Mchedlidze enters the game and replaces A. La Gumina.
Empoli make the first change of the night as Mchedlidze replaces La Gumina up top. This is the first league appearance for the striker in over a year.
64'
Will Cutrone play his part tonight? The striker injured himself while with the Under-21 team on international duty, but he's back on the bench for this match and with Milan struggling a bit to put this game to bed, they could surely use the young striker in this situation. If he's match fit, that is.
62'
Successive corners for the hosts have the momentum turned around once again. Krunic just can't adjust to what would have been a free header following a flick on at the end of the first corner, while Milan are able to clear the threat from the second.
58'
CLOSE! Well Milan really would love themselves a second goal to set themselves up for a more comfortable finish. They nearly double their advantage here just shy of the hour mark as Borini meets a corner at the far post, but he's just unable to keep his header down!
56'
Milan are asserting themselves now, with Gattuso barking orders from the touchline, not liking the gaps his defence have been affording Empoli. They're looking more assured in possession, and have been working it forward with relative ease, thanks to some incisive passing.
54'
L. Capezzi gets yellow.
Soon after, Capezzi sees his name added to the book as well for an obvious tug of Borini's shirt, pulling the attacker down from behind.
53'
D. Maietta gets yellow.
Maietta becomes the first Empoli player to see yellow in the match for a late and altogether cynical challenge to prevent Milan from breaking.
52'
It remains fairly open on the pitch, with Empoli doing their best to keep it that way. The last thing the hosts need is for Milan to suck the life out of the match with long, harmless spells in possession.
48'
Laxalt does well to track back and force Di Lorenzo to settle for a corner, as Empoli ask some early questions. Silvestre runs in to meet the ensuing delivery, but lifts his header high into the air as it never puts Donnarrumma to work.
46'
Back underway at Stadio Carlo Castellani! No changes for either side at the break.
45' +2
HALF-TIME: EMPOLI 0-1 AC MILAN.
45' +1
D. Calabria gets yellow.
Calabria sees his name into the book for a clumsy challenge into the back of Krunic, halting the midfielder's run.
45'
There will be a minimum of two minutes added on at the end of this first half.
43'
AGAIN NO ONE THERE! Calhanoglu carves out space on the right and clips in a lovely cross to the far post, which Bonaventura meets and heads back across goal. It's begging to be tapped in, but no one in white gets to it yet again! Nice idea there from Bonaventura.
41'
WHO'S THERE?! Suso cuts onto his right and bends an excellent strike at goal from 20 yards, but Terracciano gets down wonderfully to make the save. The rebound squirts out into the danger area, and it's there to be had, but no one in a white shirt can get to it!
39'
Approaching the final five minutes of the first half and Milan have settled things down again, adopting a more patient approach in possession as they look to weather the storm and settle things down again in defence.
35'
The tempo has picked up a fair bit following a bit of a cagey spell, with the match becoming quite stretched. Twice already this season Milan have dropped points from winning positions, so the opportunity is certainly there for Empoli if they carry on this way.
33'
CLOSE TO A SECOND! Well it's all coming to life again! A fine double-save from Terracciano sees Milan settle for a corner. The keeper flaps at this one, knocking the ball straight to Kessie, but the midfielder it caught off guard as he lifts his off-balance effort over the bar!
31'
OFF THE WOODWORK! Milan survive! Caputo latches onto a ball over the top and tees himself up with a lovely first touch, before smacking the second off the post with a half-volley! Milan have had a tendency to blow leads this season, and they're looking far from impenetrable here.
29'
NO PENALTY! Calhanoglu takes a pass in the centre and knocks the ball beyond a defender before going to ground, but he had eyes for that the whole time. There was nothing wrong with that upright challenge from Di Lorenzo, who takes exception to the attacker going to ground there.
27'
BIG SAVE! Out of nowhere really, La Gumina beats the offside trap and finds himself sprung clean through on goal, but is unable to beat Donnarumma who did very well to get off his line and close down the angle, before kicking the effort away from harm.
26'
Veseli is slipped into space on the overlap for Empoli, and he picks out an admirable pull-back to find the run of La Gumina towards the near post, but Romagnoli does excellently to stick with the striker and slide in to break up the move!
24'
The tempo has fizzled out a bit, with the match falling into a comfortable lull. There hasn't been a whistle in ages it feels like, as both sides have settled into a groove, with the ball being contained largely in midfield.
22'
Play resumes following a stoppage with Kessie requiring a bit of treatment, and straight away Milan settle back into possession. They appear very comfortable on the ball as they camp out just inside the attacking half, working it around cleverly against Empoli's high press.
18'
Milan are back in possession now, and continue to look quite settled since grabbing the early lead. They're finding good space out on the flanks, and their build-up has been encouraging, but the final ball is just lacking at the moment.
16'
The work rate of the hosts has been excellent thus far. They've chased down every ball, refusing to let anything go uncontested. It's helped them keep the ball, but what they're doing with their possession needs some improving.
14'
Empoli have had the bulk of possession since falling behind, but they're finding it more difficult to get it forward now with Milan keeping their shape well and congesting the midfield third. Conceding first and conceding early was just about the worst thing that could have happened for the hosts.
12'
That's really a harsh one for Empoli to concede. They had started well, showing plenty of ambition, but find themselves in an early hole now and will have to try and claw their way back into this one aginst a Milan side who will be more willing to keep bodies back in defence.
10'
L. Capezzi is unfortunate, scores an own goal!
THE ROSSONERI HAVE LIFTOFF! 1-0 MILAN! It's a stunning hit from Biglia, who latches onto a weak clearance from Krunic and hammers an unstoppable finish into the top corner from 18 yards, with the aid of a deflection off Capezzi! Laxalt was the architect in the build-up, carving out space and driving in an inviting delivery which caused Empoli problems.
7'
It's been an entertaining watch thus far, with both sides adopting a direct approach on the ball. There's yet to be a real chance carved out, but if things continue on this way it shouldn't take much longer.
5'
Empoli have enjoyed the better of play since the off, showing good intent to get forward and attack this Milan defence. At the other end, the visitors have been limited to two speculative efforts from distance, neither of which managed to work Terracciano.
3'
Traore, who is making his first Serie A start tonight, wins the ball well in the attacking half and picks out a lovely throughball for Caputo, but the striker just failed to time his run as the offside flag is raised. That was impressive from the teenager, though.
1'
AND THEY'RE OFF! AC Milan in white as they get the match underway, with Empoli in blue.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of this Serie A match as Empoli welcome AC Milan to Stadio Carlo Castellani!
Looking at the fixture list at the start of the season, very few would have expected newly promoted Empoli to be next to Milan in the Serie A table at the time of this meeting, but such is the case thanks to a sluggish start from tonight’s visitors.
Milan’s standing is not as bad as advertised, as they’ve lost just once through four matches, at Napoli, while beating Roma. It’s draws to Cagliari and Atalanta that have prevented them from climbing the table.
CONFIRMED TEAM NEWS:
EMPOLI (4-3-1-2): Pietro Terracciano; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Matias Silvestre, Domenico Maietta, Fredric Veseli; Ismael Bennacer, Leonardo Capezzi, Rade Krunic; Hamed Traore; Francesco Caputo, Antonio La Gumina.
SUBS: Matteo Brighi, Arnel Jakupovic, Michal Marcjanik, Levan Mchedlidze, Lorenzo Lollo, Andrea Fulignati, Joel Untersee, Salih Ucan, Jacob Rasmussen, Samuel Mraz, Ivan Provedel.
AC MILAN (4-3-3): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Davide Calabria, Mateo Musacchio, Alessio Romagnoli, Diego Laxalt; Franck Kessie, Lucas Biglia, Giacomo Bonaventura; Suso, Hakan Calhanoglu, Fabio Borini.
SUBS: Samu Castillejo, Patrick Cutrone, Jose Mauri, Cristian Zapata, Andrea Bertolacci, Jose Reina, Ignazio Abate, Stefan Simic, Ricardo Rodriguez, Alen Halilovic, Antonio Donnarumma, Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Aurelio Andreazzoli makes two changes to his side from the defeat at Sassuolo at the weekend. Traore will act as the link between midfield and attack with Miha Zajc suspended, while Bennacer takes the place of Afriyie Acquah in midfield.
Empoli marked their return to the top flight with a 2-0 win over Cagliari, but they’ve managed just one point in their four matches since, as struggles in front of goal have plagued them – though they have conceded just once in two home matches, a record which will be put to the test against the Rossoneri.
The visitors are dealt a blow as Gonzalo Higuain misses out with a minor tendon issue, meaning Borini takes his place in attack. The only other change comes at left-back, where Laxalt gets the nod in place of Ricardo Rodriguez.
This is a big four days for Gennaro Gattuso’s side, who need to claim close to maximum points from trips to Empoli and Sassuolo to avoid falling behind in the race for top four. Victory tonight would pull them to within four points of fourth, with a game in hand.
Biglia's thunderous effort was the lone goal of the opening 45 minutes as Milan head into the break with the lead, but there were an abundance of chances for both sides. Caputo hit the post for Empoli, and Donnarumma made a big save to deny La Gumina, while Terracciano has been busy at the other end.
With the match being played at a high tempo, and both teams looking stretched at times, there should be more goals to be had in the second half as the match remains very much in the balance.
Back to the drawing board for Gennaro Gattuso as AC Milan have now dropped seven points from winning positions in just five matches, as they fall further away from the top four. Francesco Caputo's penalty pulled Empoli level, and a late Milan onslaught fell short thanks to Pietro Terracciano's exploits in goal.
AC Milan travel to third-place Sassuolo next on Sunday, while Empoli visit Parma. That's all for our live coverage, thanks for following along. Goodbye!
Commentary
More…