In the away dressing room, the Lazio players were visibly quiet, the pressure plain to see on their faces.
Lazio had once known glory: in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, the club had been a force to be reckoned with, winning the Serie A title in 1999-2000 with the likes of Mihajlović, Nesta, and Nedvěd lighting up the squad.
After that Lazio had sunk back into mediocrity, and it was only this season that they had begun to climb again.
Having reached second place in the table, both Pioli and his players had naturally begun to want more, and with that came the pressure.
"In the second half, we defend solidly and hit on the counter."
"Their goalkeeper Leon is positioned very high up the pitch; when the moment is right, go for a long-range shot directly."
"Keita! Stop dwelling on that first-half miss."
"In the second half I need your pace to tear open AC Milan's defensive line."
"No goalkeeper keeps a clean sheet forever."
"I have a feeling that Leon's first concession is coming in the second half of this match."
Pioli laid out his tactics and did not forget to fire his players up at the same time.
The second half kicked off.
The noise inside San Siro was clearly growing even louder.
Despite the draw, the AC Milan supporters believed their side would take the lead before long.
And so it proved.
In the 52nd minute, Lazio defender Canà launched a big clearance upfield.
But Leon, who had moved out of the penalty area again, immediately brought it under control.
Leon did not take a touch to settle it; he struck it on the volley almost instantly and sent it straight back.
The transition was so rapid that several Lazio players had no time to react.
They had just set themselves to push forward and suddenly found the ball back in front of their own penalty area.
Torres flicked a header to win the first contact and directed the ball towards Suso on the left.
Suso headed it on first time, knocking it forward and bursting into Lazio's penalty area.
The relentless pressure had clearly rattled Lazio's defenders.
De Vrij went sliding in on Suso.
Suso went down.
The referee's whistle blew.
Penalty.
De Vrij's sliding tackle had clearly caught Suso's right leg.
Suso had won AC Milan a penalty.
"Milan! Milan! Forever Milan!"
The AC Milan supporters at San Siro broke into a wave around the stadium.
Out on the pitch, the Lazio players kept appealing to the referee that Suso had dived, but the referee paid no attention.
Penalty.
Who would take it?
A rather amusing scene followed.
After seeing a gesture from the players up front, Mexes walked straight over to Leon and told him to take the penalty.
"Are you kidding me?"
Leon was genuinely amused.
There are limits to how reckless a person should be.
Leon declined without hesitation.
Walking up to take a penalty at a moment like this, whether it went in or not, would be sheer madness.
Did he think Lazio could not score into an empty goal?
If he missed, the consequences would be far too serious.
That was not how Leon operated.
A free kick was something Leon could occasionally step up and take, because he had the confidence to do it.
But penalty taking was a different matter entirely; it was genuinely weak territory for Leon.
His penalty taking attribute currently stood at just 4.
Extremely low.
After some back and forth, Suso ended up taking it himself.
Suso took a deep breath and steadied himself.
"Bang!"
The penalty went in.
A clean, composed finish that sent Lazio's goalkeeper Berisha diving the wrong way.
Goooooooal!
Suso had given AC Milan the lead.
1-0!
AC Milan had seized the initiative again in a top-of-the-table clash.
"Yes!"
Leon pumped his fist once and then applauded Suso.
On the live table at that moment, AC Milan had consolidated their hold on fourth place.
They were now just three points behind third-placed Lazio and just four points behind second-placed Roma.
"Dad! AC Milan have scored!"
Little Devin George was jumping up and down with excitement.
"They have!"
Dave George was moved too.
AC Milan's form of late had been extraordinary.
It really did seem as though a return to the top was possible.
The AC Milan side at their peak ten years ago had made every top club in Europe tremble.
The match continued.
Conceding had forced Lazio to push forward.
But the mounting pressure began to work against them.
In the 71st minute, after Leon claimed Keita Baldé's shot he launched a powerful throw immediately.
Lazio had pushed so far up that their own half was wide open.
Menez charged forward with the ball and a composed finish broke through Berisha's goal again.
2-0!
In the 80th minute, Bonaventura swung in a corner and Torres leapt high to head it powerfully into the net.
3-0!
Lazio were collapsing.
San Siro erupted into total celebration.
Out on the pitch, the Lazio players had a lost look in their eyes.
After the previous round of matches they had still harboured hopes of the Serie A title.
But just one match later, AC Milan had delivered a sharp wake-up call.
It was a deeply deflating feeling.
Keita Baldé had completely switched off on the pitch, producing none of the dynamic running he was capable of.
Klose had barely featured either, largely starved of support from his teammates.
So far Klose had managed just one shot, which had gone wide.
But he had not given up.
In the 89th minute, the AC Milan home supporters had already begun celebrating the victory early.
At that very moment, Lazio won a corner.
The Lazio players all looked as though they had already accepted their fate, and the battles for the ball in the penalty area were half-hearted at best.
That passive attitude had clearly rubbed off on the AC Milan players too, who instinctively began to ease off.
After all, there was barely a minute left.
After all, they had a three-goal lead.
"Track Klose!"
Leon, still completely locked in, spotted a glaring gap in the team's corner kick defence.
Klose, who had been lurking just outside the box, suddenly made a run into the penalty area.
Not a single AC Milan player was marking him.
He jumped.
He headed.
The ball flew into the net.
Leon had made a costly mistake coming for the ball: he was just a fraction too late and Klose had got there first.
To prevent Leon from easily gathering the header, Klose had deliberately adjusted the trajectory and angle of his effort.
That kind of control in the air was not something just any player could produce.
3-1!
Leon had finally conceded.
The man to break through the goal Leon had guarded was the legendary Klose.
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