Weston McKennie and Federico Gatti were suspended, Moise Kean and Mattia De Sciglio were hurt, but Adrien Rabiot made a comeback after missing the Coppa Italia due to a minor thigh problem for the Bianconeri. Sassuolo was coming off a 4-2 victory over Juventus in September, but they were without Gregoire Defrel, Matias Vina, Jeremy Toljan, Agustin Alvarez, and Pedro Obiang.
In barely fifteen minutes, the score was broken when Kenan Yildiz found Dusan Vlahovic outside the box, who finished brilliantly with his left boot, bending it into the far top corner after Manuel Locatelli intercepted in midfield. Instead of passing Domenico Berardi a pass in return, Armand Lauriente barely nudged the finish at Wojciech Szczesny, but he quickly made up for it with a fierce strike that rebounded directly in front of the custodian, making it a difficult save.