Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has made an unforgettable Serie A debut for Salernitana.
Still, that wasn’t enough to prevent defending champions AC Milan from beating the southern club 2-1 on Wednesday as the Italian league resumed after a seven-and-a-half-week break.
Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali scored a goal and set up another for Rafael Leao on a five-minute streak early on, while Federico Bonazzoli pulled one back late for Salernitana.
Otherwise, it was almost about Ochoa, 37, who denied Milan chance after chance to follow a strong performance for Mexico in their fifth World Cup.
Ochoa set the tone early on when he pulled out his left boot to stop a one-on-one shot from Leao and also later made a quick reflex save to thwart Olivier Giroud, who was back in action 17 days after playing for France. in the World Cup final.
There was little Ochoa could do, however, when Tonali’s through ball put Leao on goal again and the Portugal international dribbled wide around the goalkeeper before laying the ball into an empty net under a acute angle.
Ochoa stopped Tonali five minutes later but the Milan player then had another chance when the defense failed to clear and hit the target with a powerful shot.
In all, Ochoa made nine saves, while his Milan counterpart Ciprian Tatarusanu made none.
Second-placed Milan moved within five points of Serie A leaders Napoli, who faced Inter Milan at the San Siro later.
Moreover, relegation-threatened Sampdoria won 2-1 at Sassuolo with goals from Manolo Gabbiadini and Tommaso Augello, prompting Samp coach Dejan Stankovic to point to the skies in memory of former team-mate Sinisa Mihajlovic , who died last month after a long battle with leukemia.
Each match was preceded by a minute of silence in memory of Pelé, the great footballer who died last week.
