Milan take fourth, but not quietly

The useful part for Milan was settled quickly. Alphadjo Cisse scored his eighth goal of the season and Christian Pulisic added another soon after, putting Ruben Amorim’s side two up inside 20 minutes, according to SempreMilan’s roundup of the Italian front pages and match summary. For a team that has spent much of the season chasing consistency, that early control mattered.

It did not become an easy afternoon. Ellertsson’s late strike from distance turned the finish uneasy, and the match that had looked neatly managed became something Milan had to protect. That shift, from authority to anxiety, is familiar enough to make the result feel slightly messier than the table suggests.

Still, the table is the point here. With Como losing against Inter later in the day, Milan moved into fourth place before the November break. SempreMilan’s summary put it plainly: the Rossoneri are inside the top four, even if the wider search for consistency goes on.

The newspapers it collected mostly landed in the same area, though with different emphasis. La Gazzetta dello Sport called Milan “a different side in the league” and said Genoa’s mistakes helped them along. Corriere dello Sport framed it as a response to the European flop, with Cisse and Pulisic doing the repair work. Tuttosport gave more weight to the scare at the end, noting that Milan reached the Champions League places despite a nervy finish.

That combination probably tells the story better than any grand declaration would. Milan were sharp enough to build the lead, vulnerable enough to make the end uncomfortable, and efficient enough to leave with exactly what they needed.