Daily Times

Tijjani Reijnders gave AC Milan something to cheer about over Christmas with the only goal in Friday’s 1-0 win at lowly Verona which was marked by more fan protests. Netherlands midfielder Reijnders lashed in his eighth goal of the season from Milan’s first real chance of the game in the 56th minute, crashing home first-time from Youssouf Fofana’s neat pass.

“It was very important… luckily we won because it was a difficult match but we got the three points and now we can celebrate Christmas,” said Reijnders.

Reijnders’ strike moved Milan up a place to seventh on 26 points, five from the Champions League positions and 11 behind leaders Atalanta who host Empoli on Sunday. That position is not where supporters expected to be this season under Paulo Fonseca and the away end loudly voiced its dissent throughout the first half.

Chants demanding Gerry Cardinale, founder of Milan’s owners RedBird Capital Partners, to “sell and go” rang around the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, as did others urging the players to “show some balls”.

Milan chairman Paolo Scaroni said on Friday that Redbird are a “committed owner for the long-term” following the announcement of a refinancing of the vendor loan taken out with previous owners Elliott Management when acquiring the club in 2022.