The simple but wise Forrest Gump said it best, “Life is like
a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get.” And the same is
true of Milan this season. Just when we thought we could predict mostly
underwhelming performances, conceding goals, and frustrating draws, Inzaghi’s
boys wow us with a defeat of a more talented team and a clean sheet to sweeten
the deal. Ninety minutes of grinta,
where we thought that tank was starting to run on empty. Surprise. Of course, I
have always loved chocolate anyway.
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| The two J's, Jeremy and Jack |
With the Grinch on the bench and Bonera in the starting
lineup, it was still difficult to tell what we were gonna get this time at
kickoff. But in the sixth minute, it became quite clear that we were gonna get
the best chocolate in the box. Bonaventura laid off a sweet little pass to
Menez, who sent it across the goal and out of Rafael’s reach. 1-0 Milan. When
this team makes such amazing plays like that, I almost believe I’m watching a
completely different Milan than I’ve been watching this year.
Montolivo looked like he’d completely shaken off the long injury
after just his second start, including his requisite yellow card in the 20th for
a late tackle and a few wasted wild shots throughout the match. Armero had a
great game, making a couple of very important clearances to help keep the clean
sheet, spinning as if he was breakdancing when he got fouled by Ghoulam in the
45th, and assisting on the second goal.
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| Bonera thinks back on his singular career goal and celebrates the memory |
Speaking of which, the second goal came early in the second half, in the 52nd. Armero sent a cross in and Bonaventura headed it beautifully to make it 2-0 Milan. We only took 11 shots, only three of which were on goal. But of those three, we scored with two. Poli and Honda did not get on the scoreboard, despite their best efforts, but they played like beasts. Poli did earn a yellow in the 64th for stopping Higuain, but that was kind of necessary. In fact, most everyone played amazingly. But for me, the man of the match had to be Diego Lopez. I guess it took facing off with a Spanish coach for him to play his best, but with seven saves, he was just incredible and absolutely kept us in this game time and time again.
There were a few sour spots, of course, like Rami’s thigh
injury he sustained in the 64th. Hope it's nothing serious. Oh, and Koulibaly took out one of the goal
line refs in the 32nd, apparently trying to help Galliani’s case for goal line
technology. Ref injuries would be cut down significantly, right? There was a showdown between De Guzman and De Jong, but I'm gonna give that title to the one who played 90 minutes and was on the winning team. The other
Zapata challenged us a bit once he came on, but was still kept off the
scoreboard. As were Higuain, Callejon, Hamsik, and everyone else in the light blue kits. Surprise.
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| Mexes especially needed to thank my MOTM, as Lopez saved his almost OG in the 42nd |
I can’t remember the last time I saw this team look this
dangerous, this focused, this confident… this Milan. What a refreshing surprise
from the expired and nasty box of chocolates that has been shoved down our throat the past few
years. It must be said that Napoli were not the team they should be today, either. But
still, we did shut them down for the first time in three years. I don’t know if we will see this Milan team again,
or how soon we will if they show up again. But for today, I am enjoying this
box of chocolates metaphorically and physically. Because come Saturday, we have
no idea what we’re gonna get.
This post inspired by chocolate
Our next match is
Roma vs. Milan
Saturday, December 20 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)