Frosinone 2 AC Milan 4: Second-half comeback earns Milan victory

AC Milan scored four second-half goals to come from behind and claim a 4-2 Serie A victory at Frosinone.

In the first ever league meeting between the two teams, Frosinone took the lead early on through Daniel Ciofani and the hosts seemed comfortable in holding onto their advantage until half-time.

After the break, however, Milan piled the pressure on their relegation-threatened opponents and were rewarded in the 50th minute when Ignazio Abate levelled with only his second goal for the club.

Carlos Bacca put the visitors in front five minutes later with his ninth goal in all competitions this season, after brave work from Giacomo Bonaventura, and Milan remained dangerous for the remainder of the encounter at Stadio Matusa.

Federico Dionisi’s header gave the home side brief hope, before Alex added a third in the 77th minute.

Giacomo Bonaventura scored Milan’s fourth in stoppage time to inflict on Frosinone a defeat that leaves the minnows 18th in the Serie A standings, two points off safety, after a run of three successive losses. Milan, meanwhile, have now lost just one of their last 10 league outings.

In a frantic start to the encounter, M’Baye Niang forced an early save from Nicola Leali in the Frosinone goal while, at the other end, Gianluigi Donnarumma had to react quickly to push Danilo Soddimo’s powerful effort out for a corner.

Leali produced an astonishing double save in the eighth minute to deny Niang’s close-range volley and Carlos Bacca’s subsequent header, while Donnarumma was forced into an uncomfortable stop at his near post from Mirko Gori as the game opened up at a rapid pace.

Frosinone struck first in the 19th minute. Milan’s defence was split by a simple throughball from Gori, giving Ciofani a clear run on goal, and the striker made the most of the chance by slipping the ball underneath the advancing Donnarumma.

Milan dominated possession after falling behind but rarely managed to get in behind the hosts’ backline, as Frosinone reached the break in front.

The visitors were protecting a five-match unbeaten run in all competitions and Keisuke Honda should have brought Milan level three minutes after half-time.

The Japanese swapped passes with Abate in the box and found himself bearing down on goal, but he dragged his shot wide of Leali’s right-hand post. Within two minutes, however, Honda played a big role in Milan’s equaliser.

The midfielder’s clever first-time pass picked out the run of Abate, who galloped into the penalty area and beat Leali.

In the 55th minute, the visitors were in front. Andrea Bertolacci’s flicked header forward found Bonaventura who poked the ball across the face of goal for Bacca to smash home from a yard out.

With 13 minutes left Alex seemingly put Milan out of sight by rising unmarked in the penalty area to head home a right-wing corner, but the home side responded with a second goal of their own with seven minutes remaining. Daniel Pavlovic swung in a free-kick from the left and Dionisi was left unattended to head past Donnarumma.

However, Bonaventura re-established the away side’s two-goal cushion in the second minute of stoppage time, with a fine finish into the roof of the net, after he was played in by Andrea Poli.

Key Opta stats:

– Today’s game saw AC Milan pick up their first points from a losing position this season.
– Frosinone have conceded an average of three goals per game over the last seven matches in Serie A.
– Giacomo Bonaventura has made six assists so far this term, the joint-highest in Serie A.
– Carlos Bacca has scored eight goals from his first 14 shots on target in Serie A.