People say that a coach is measured by results. But this
season, Mihajlovic has been measured by his bench. For the first half of the
season, any time he had to go to his bench for any reason, whatever the
starters were doing was nullified by the bench players. For the second half of
the season, it has gradually gotten better. But today’s match showed that our
bench may not be weighing us down as much anymore. With two bench players starting
ahead of two typical key starters, we held off a tough Torino attack and got
the win, even if it wasn’t pretty. No bull.
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| Celebrations included the hero's kiss to the sky, a sweet dedication for a necessary goal |
Earlier this season, without our “playmaker,” Montolivo, and
our most capped center back, Romagnoli, we could have easily collapsed,
conceded goals, and generally given up three points. And as much as so many
people hate Montolivo, his losing balls, strolling around, and passing to the
opposing team is how our team is used to playing now. They are also used to
having Romagnoli behind him to cleanup as much of his mess as possible.
Instead, today we had Bertolacci, whom the jury is still deliberating on,
though I think most people agree we overpaid for him. But he was under a lot of
pressure to do all of those things Montolivo does that are really unlike anyone
else playing that position. And instead, he tried to actually play football, so
that made it difficult for everyone. Zapata, however, deputizing for Romagnoli
for the second match in a row, did not disappoint. In fact, he was key in
keeping Torino off of the board, and clearly had taken his concentration meds
for the second game in a row.
Torino came out like a bull from a bull pen, and Milan had
to respond in kind. Especially Zapata and Donnarumma, who should share whatever
spoils come from a clean sheet. In the 27th, Honda took a beautiful free kick
that hit the cross bar, such a shame. Honda had another great match all the way
through. My favorite moment may have been when, in the 34th, Glik came sliding
toward him, and he just jumped over him and kept on dribbling. Brilliant. Then
there was a sweet backheel from Bertolacci a minute later that led to a great
shot from Bonaventura, but unfortunately also a great save from Padelli. Things
were building, we were creating a lot of chances but I wasn’t comfortable
thinking we’d score anytime soon.
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| You'd think Glik had never seen a ninja before |
Then in the 42nd, there was a string of events that seemingly set things in motion. Kuco taking
the ball in the middle of the field, taking out a defender in the process, then
getting fouled by Glik, who got the yellow card in addition to giving up a free
kick, which Honda took, but was deflected by the wall. Kuco got to the rebound,
though, but another deflection sent it over. On the ensuing corner kick, Kuco
headed it, but it was Antonelli who was able to send it in past Padelli for the
goal. 1-0 Milan. And if that didn’t make you cry (tears of joy,) then Antonelli
dedicating it to his uncle, who passed away last week should.
After such a tough first half, albeit incredibly encouraging
the way we increasingly attacked and stopped allowing as many chances for
Torino, it was difficult to imagine how we’d play in the second half. But I was
pleased that the intensity remained, even if it still wasn’t the prettiest
football. Milan would take 19 shots, with only three on target, so clinical
wasn’t the name of this game for sure. But consider Bacca’s header in the 61st
that was called back for offside, and you’ll know that they were definitely at
least fighting. Even Abate, wearing the armband tonight, emulated Montolivo with a shot from distance in the 64th, although his shot may have actually gone in,
had it not been deflected.
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| Sorry, Immobile, that you couldn't even score on a child |
The comedy moment was in the 68th, when Niang took the “ride
the bull” phrase literally, with Moretti having fallen down, Niang tried to
step over him for some reason, and Moretti grabbed him and wouldn’t let him go,
giving the appearance of riding him. And the next minute, Abate, again
emulating the holder of the armband, got a yellow card for a tough foul, and
will be suspended vs. Sassuolo for card accumulation. So after Niang’s bull
riding incident, Mihajlovic pulled him off in the 69th, replacing him with
Boateng. Or as @Kriskor
pointed out, “we went down to 10 men.”
Although I know Boateng was on the pitch, because in addition to his
embarrassingly horrible performance, he earned himself a yellow in the 80th.
Not even our old friend Maxi Lopez could hurt us, though.
Certainly Immobile sure tried for all 90 minutes. But what he didn’t know was
that while he was on
a break from Torino, Milan promoted this wonderkid named Donnarumma as
their first string keeper. You know the one who just turned 17? Yeah, Immobile, they don’t make them like that in Germany or Spain. Or anywhere else, really.
So sorry to keep your incredible shots out of our net, but it’s just what he
does. And he did it incredibly again today. Grazie, Ragazzo. The whole team had
to be encouraged by most of the Curva’s banners, the most prominent one which
read, "With blood and sweat we're regaining our love. Strength always,
guys!!" See, even the Curva have gone from miserable failures to
approaching actual fanhood again.
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| Everyone is falling head over heels in love with Milan again |
This won’t be a game where people talk about the amazing
tactics or supreme skills or breathtaking action. But it should be a game where
fans realized that Milan are actually waking up from their horrible nightmares
of recent years. Not just the starters, but some of the bench players, too. We
played hard for 90 minutes, we kept it together, did not bow down to individual
errors costing us anything, and we got the three points. At home, in front of
whatever fans have started to return to the stadium. And even though it was
virtually written in the stars, as Torino haven’t beaten Milan at the San Siro
since 1985, Milan stopped shooting ourselves in the foot, and not even Boateng
could derail this one. It was all work, no bull.
This post inspired by the music of
the Kings of Leon “Mechanical Bull” album
Our next match is
Coppa Italia Semifinal Second Leg
Milan vs. Alessandria
Tuesday, March 1 • 21:00 CET (3pm EST)