Milan 3, Livorno 0: Happy

Milan are getting results. And results help with morale, just ask Seedorf. Or you could look at the faces of any of the players, the coaches, or the fans. It may not be pretty football, even if there is still improvement and growth as a team. But the smiles (and in this match the goals) kind of make up for that, don’t you think? I know I’m happy.

A fifth straight victory

Livorno are fighting for their Serie A lives, and it showed. In fact, Di Carlo was actually sacked after their loss and his predecessor Nicola brought back in. I guess they figured Nicola was able to get a point from Milan in December and Di Carlo wasn’t. But Livorno did cause us some problems, like Greco’s shot in the 17th from distance that went just wide, or some guy called Djamel Mesbah who seemed vaguely familiar, who caused us problems the entire match. I seem to remember him not wanting to leave Milan….

But at the end of the day, Milan’s morale prevailed. Oh, and some guy called Balotelli. Playing in his 50th match for Milan, he made it a memorable one. He opened the scoring the 43rd with a brilliant header, his first header of the season. On a cross from none other than Kevin Constant. 1-0 Milan This marked Balotelli’s 18th goal of the season, his best tally for a single club in a single season. He was definitely happy.

Balotelli can turn anything to gold

After the half, Taarabt, who had worked hard and stayed quite focused, finally earned his reward by scoring from a Balotelli assist in the 51st after dazzling with his mad skills. 2-0 Milan. But even at this point I couldn’t relax, Livorno were desperate. And despite being down two goals, they were clearly not giving up.

Seedorf brought on Muntari in the 66th for De Jong to give him some playing time, which was good because after De Jong’s yellow card in the 24th, he will be suspended for the Roma game, and we will need Muntari, just back from injury. But the key subs turned out to be bringing on Pazzini for Kaka in the 74th and then bringing on Saponara for Robinho in the 82nd. Because in the 83rd, once again from a Balotelli assist, Pazzini made his run and chipped the keeper to make it 3-0 Milan. So happy.

Super sub

We had our moments. In addition to De Jong’s card, there were cards for Rami in the 72nd and Abate in the 34th. Abate’s could have been a red and was almost a penalty, it was just outside the box. The Mesbinator™ beat Abate in his first game back from injury, and the tackle was probably as frustrated as it was necessary. But in the end, the ref made the right call, he did well enough on the day.

Milan’s happiness came at a cost, I’m sure Livorno were not happy and Di Carlo perhaps even less so now that he’s out of a job for these last four games. But I for one thoroughly enjoyed the smiles of the players, the fans, and especially Seedorf’s on the sideline. Of course if you believe the papers, Seedorf’s smile won’t be around long, and neither will he. Because when a coach comes in and picks up the pieces of a horrific season to win five straight games, the only thing to do is to let him go, of course. Especially when you look at the season since he started, and Milan are would be in third place based on the points we’ve earned since he arrived compared to the other teams during this time.

So happy

The more interesting news is that this result put us tied with Parma in 6th place. You know, the Europa League zone. It seems that those of you in North America who bought tickets for the ICC matches this summer may be going to see another team after all. Milan have four games left to pull it off, and since I still don’t want them to, you know that they will pull it off.

But I don’t care, because I’m happy. Happy for Balotelli to get a goal and two assists. Happy for the three points and the clean sheet. But mainly happy that the team is happy again. After the cancerous levels of morale that afflicted the team all season long, I am so happy to see smiles dominate the pitch and the stands again. And, of course, a big grin on my face, too.

This post inspired by the music of Pharell’s “Happy”

Our next match is

Roma vs. Milan

Friday, April 25 • 20:45 CEST (2:45 EDT)

Happy Easter!

Buona Pasqua!


Stay tuned for an all new Milan Obsession Podcast coming tomorrow!