Highly-rated Nigerian midfielder Ebenezer Akinsanmiro registered his first Serie A assist as Pisa battled to a hard-fought 2-2 draw against league leaders AC Milan at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Friday night, Bold Sports reports.
The hosts, who had won five of their opening seven league matches to sit top of the table were firm favourites heading into the encounter. Pisa, on the other hand, were still searching for their first victory of the campaign, having picked up only three points in the same number of games.
AC Milan took control early on through Rafael Leão, who opened the scoring in the seventh minute after a well-timed pass from Samuele Ricci. Pisa, however, refused to crumble under pressure and grew into the game after the restart.
Their persistence paid off when Juan Cuadrado converted from the penalty spot in the 60th minute to level the score. The visitors then stunned the home crowd late in the game as Akinsanmiro produced a beautiful assist for M’bala Nzola, who slotted home in the 86th minute to give Pisa a shocking 2-1 lead.
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However, AC Milan’s late pressure eventually told, as substitute Zachary Athekame unleashed a long-range strike that hit the inside of the post before nestling into the net, salvaging a point for the Rossoneri and denying Pisa a first win of the season.
With the draw, AC Milan remain top of the Serie A standings with 17 points, two clear of Inter Milan, Napoli, and Roma. Pisa sit 18th with four points from eight matches.
The newly-promoted side will now look to secure their first win of the campaign when they host Lazio on Thursday, October 30, while AC Milan will aim to return to winning ways against Atalanta on Tuesday, October 28.
For Akinsanmiro, who has now started six of Pisa’s eight league games, the performance marks another encouraging step in his development as he continues to earn valuable minutes in Italy’s top flight.
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