Serie A: VAR denies Chukwueze as Okafor rescues AC Milan from Sassuolo defeat at the death

Samuel Chukwueze suffered hard luck as AC Milan came from a two-goal deficit twice to snatch a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sassuolo at the Stadio Mapei – Citta del Tricolore on Sunday afternoon, Soccernet.ng reports.

Chukwueze returned to the starting lineup for Milan after spending 78 minutes on the bench in his side’s disappointing 1-0 Europa League loss to AS Roma at the San Siro on Thursday.

However, his presence did little to dissuade Sassuolo from going two-nil up within the opening ten minutes – Andrea Pinamonti and Armand Laurienté, the goalscorer for the home team.

Portuguese forward Rafael Leão reduced the deficit for the visitors in the 20th minute, but Laurienté restored Sassuolo’s two-goal advantage early in the second half.

AC Milan were relentless still, and on the hour mark, Stefano Pioli’s men made it 3-2 courtesy of a Luka Jović strike.

Three minutes later, Chukwueze had the ball in the back of the net, with the Super Eagles forward racing to celebrate what would have been his second Serie A goal of the season.

However, After VAR reviewed the situation leading to the goal, the referee revoked Chukuweze’s goal due to offside.

The Nigerian winger was replaced shortly after, with United States of America star Christian Pulisic taking his place.

It was another substitute, Noah Okafor, who rose to AC Milan’s rescue, though, when he volleyed home a brilliant equaliser in the 84th minute.

Before leaving the pitch, Chukwueze had 36 touches, completed 76 per cent of his 25 passes, made one key pass, and had one of his three shots blocked.

While the Nigeria international has only one goal in the Italian Serie A, he notched two strikes in the UEFA Champions League before Milan exited the competition.

Chukwueze scored in AC Milan’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United in December and the 3-1 loss at home to Borussia Dortmund in November, both in the group stages.

The 24-year-old star’s only Serie A goal came as the last of AC Milan’s goals in their 3-1 win at Verona in March.