Depleted Milan Miss Chance to Go Second with 4-2 Loss at Monza 

AC Milan's French forward #09 Olivier Giroud reacts at the end of the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and AC Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, Italy on February 18, 2024. (AFP)
AC Milan's French forward #09 Olivier Giroud reacts at the end of the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and AC Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, Italy on February 18, 2024. (AFP)
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Depleted Milan Miss Chance to Go Second with 4-2 Loss at Monza 

AC Milan's French forward #09 Olivier Giroud reacts at the end of the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and AC Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, Italy on February 18, 2024. (AFP)
AC Milan's French forward #09 Olivier Giroud reacts at the end of the Italian Serie A football match between AC Monza and AC Milan at the Brianteo stadium in Monza, Italy on February 18, 2024. (AFP)

AC Milan missed out on the chance to move into second in the Serie A standings when they lost 4-2 at mid-table Monza on Sunday after being reduced to 10 men early in the second half.

Milan remained third in the standings on 52 points, two adrift of second-placed Juventus and 11 behind leaders Inter Milan, who have a game in hand.

The Rossoneri, who beat Stade Rennais 3-0 at home in the Europa League in midweek and travel to France for the second leg on Thursday, suffered their first league loss in more than two months to end their unbeaten run of nine games.

Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota put Monza ahead in the first half before substitutes Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic pulled Milan level in the second. Warren Bondo and Lorenzo Colombo secured the hosts all three points with a goal apiece in the dying minutes.

Milan went down to 10 men in the 52nd minute when Luka Jovic was sent off for violent conduct against Monza captain Pessina, with the referee overturning his original decision to just book the Serbia striker after consulting the VAR screen.

"We made mistakes that ruined the match. When you concede four goals it feels wrong to say our first half-hour was good, but that is true," Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.

"Going a man down made it even more difficult. After equalizing we should've been sharper to defend better. The team felt confident and wanted to go on to win."

With Giroud, Pulisic and Rafael Leao starting on the bench, Milan had early chances through Jovic and Theo Hernandez before a shot by Samuel Chukwueze was denied by Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.

Pessina gave Monza the lead from the spot just before the break, sending Milan keeper Mike Maignan the wrong way after the penalty was awarded for a foul by Malick Thiaw, and Mota doubled the advantage for the hosts in first-half stoppage time.

Di Gregorio had to be substituted late in the first half after a clash of heads with defender Andrea Carboni.

Pulisic, Leao and Tijjani Reijnders all took to the field following halftime and Giroud joined minutes later but things got worse for Milan when they had Jovic sent off.

Giroud eventually pulled a goal back for the visitors with a shot from close range, netting a Pulisic headed pass in the 64th minute, and the American equalized in the 88th with a curled shot inside the far post.

But feisty Monza did not settle for a draw, with Bondo and Colombo sealing their historic first win and points over Milan in Serie A.

"These are serious errors; we all should've done better. It is a painful defeat but one that we must learn from," the Italian manager added.

"We stopped after a long unbeaten run in Serie A, third place is not solid yet and second place is also not far away."



Vardy Scores Landmark Goal for Leicester in Final Game for Club

Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Ipswich Town - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - May 18, 2025 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring their first goal with Leicester City's Kasey McAteer. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Ipswich Town - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - May 18, 2025 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring their first goal with Leicester City's Kasey McAteer. (Action Images via Reuters)
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Vardy Scores Landmark Goal for Leicester in Final Game for Club

Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Ipswich Town - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - May 18, 2025 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring their first goal with Leicester City's Kasey McAteer. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Leicester City v Ipswich Town - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - May 18, 2025 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring their first goal with Leicester City's Kasey McAteer. (Action Images via Reuters)

Jamie Vardy marked his 500th and final match for Leicester with a farewell goal — his 200th for the club he has represented for exactly 13 years.

The 38-year-old striker scored in the 28th minute to put Leicester 1-0 ahead against Ipswich at King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

Vardy ran to the corner flag, pulled it out and raised it aloft before being mobbed by his teammates.

Grabbing a landmark goal is a fitting way to go out for Vardy, a player Leicester has described as its “greatest ever” after he famously helped the team to win the Premier League title in 2016 at preseason odds of 5,000-1. In that title-winning campaign, he netted in a record 11 straight games to inspire one of the great underdog stories in sporting history.

Vardy is still going strong, scoring nine times in this campaign to back up his assertion that he can still play at the highest level. It hasn't been announced where he will play next.

Leicester still has another league game left after that — at Bournemouth on May 25 in the Premier League's final round — but Vardy’s last appearance for the team will be against Ipswich.

Vardy joined Leicester from non-league team Fleetwood Town for 1 million pounds (now $1.33 million) in May 2012 — exactly 13 years ago.