Milan battled to a 2-1 win over Sassuolo this week and it took a huge effort from the players to dig deep and find a way to claim all three points as tired legs set in.

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On the eve of the clash between Sassuolo and Milan, which will be very important for the latter, Stefano Pioli spoke to the media at the usual press conference. It’s not an easy situation, that’s for sure. The Rossoneri have drawn their last two games, both 2-2, and they will be looking to get.

The Rossoneri have been superb since the restart, and that’s despite having to play almost every three days as they have put in one brilliant shift in after another in each game that they’ve played.

• Probable Sassuolo XI (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Bourabia, Magnanelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Caputo. Head to head When Sassuolo first entered the Serie A stage, they were what you could call a ‘bogey team’ for Milan under many years.
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READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan dig deep to grind out important win over Sassuolo

It looked ominous early on at Sassuolo, as the hosts were looking threatening as they found spaces in our half in between the lines and created some opportunities.

Fortunately though, we were able to settle and get a foothold in the encounter before Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s opener certainly gave us a boost to go on and dictate proceedings for the most part. There were two key reasons behind that…

High press used effectively

A key factor behind why were able to get ourselves in the game after the opening 10 or 15 minutes, was how we pressed high up the pitch and did so very effectively.

As seen in the first image below, this was in the build-up to the first goal with Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer pushing into Sassuolo’s half and the pass was in fact intercepted by the former, who then began our build-up play which resulted in Ibrahimovic heading home our opener.

In the second image, it was the same story in the second half as we forced Andrea Consigli into an error with Kessie again pouncing having pressed high up the pitch, and on that occasion it led to Bennacer hitting the post from distance.

This flipped the pressure that was being put on us in possession onto Sassuolo, who then made mistakes and were punished as we continue to produce clinical performances in the final third.

Calhanoglu-Ibrahimovic clinical link-up

The Milan pair linked up for both goals and as seen in the images below, it was a ‘simple’ one-two punch as they carved Sassuolo open with a decisive pass and Ibrahimovic put the ball in the back of the net.

An important factor behind why this is so effective is that Calhanoglu is now playing in a more natural role which makes the most of his qualities. For both goals he found space between the Sassuolo midfield and defence, is able to pick his head up and find the pass and his technical quality and passing ability does the rest to find his teammate.

Credit must also go to Ibrahimovic on both occasions though, as he still had a lot to do to find the back of the net, but he did so expertly to bag a brace and keep our great run rolling on ahead of facing Atalanta on Friday night.

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From the high press to the link-up play between our attacking players, it was another excellent shift from all concerned as we certainly looked tired and sluggish in the opening stages.

With Bennacer and Theo Hernandez suspended vs Atalanta and Alessio Romagnoli injured, we may have to tinker and adjust our approach accordingly, but it’s imperative that Kessie, Calhanoglu and Ibrahimovic continue to have a major influence on games and that in turn will undoubtedly give us a better chance of keeping our winning streak going.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wales' Aaron Ramsey helped Juventus to secure a 3-1 victory over 10-man Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday, lifting the champions to fourth place in the standings.

Following their win at leaders AC Milan in midweek, Juventus struggled to create many chances in the first half, but their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before half-time.

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Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute, but the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.

Ramsey, who has been in and out of the side this season, put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season. In contrast, Serie A top scorer Ronaldo took his season's tally to 15 as he struck in stoppage-time to complete the win.

The result helped Juve close the gap with leaders Milan to seven points, having played one game less. Sassuolo stay seventh.

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'Victories are built with everyone's work and sacrifice, we have already made mistakes too many times,' Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said.

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'After Milan's win over Torino [on Saturday] we understood that we need maximum concentration and the desire to bring home the victories. We had to continue after the win at the San Siro. It was important to maintain our form.'

After scoring three times in Milan in midweek, Juve's strikeforce could not get going in the first half at the Juventus Stadium.

Obiang's dismissal, however, gave Juve a boost, with the referee issuing a straight red card after the VAR asked the official to have another look at the midfielder's studs-up tackle on Chiesa.

Danilo's third Juventus goal settled the hosts' nerves, but Sassuolo, enjoying a fine season, were not overawed despite being a man down as Defrel fired them level and they had several other chances to take the lead.

Ramsey, who replaced the injured Weston McKennie in the first half, got the all-important second, arriving on cue to meet a Gianluca Frabotta cross, before Ronaldo drilled home to make sure of a third successive win for Juve.