Reijnders gifts ailing Milan festive cheer at Verona

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.

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.

Reijnders has been one of the few consistent bright spots of an otherwise up-and-down season for Milan, whose celebrations for the club’s 125th anniversary were ruined by angry fans barracking players and the ownership.

Milan came into Friday’s game missing a host of key players, including Christian Pulisic and Alvaro Morata, and lost Rafael Leao to a left hamstring knock in the first half.

Leao was replaced by Theo Hernandez who was once again dropped to the bench despite Fonseca, whose job is reported to be under threat, insisting that the France full-back is not being punished for poor attitude.

Narrow defeat for Verona leaves Paolo Zanetti’s team one point and place above the relegation zone.