I was
really nervous for this match. Despite what Montella said in his prematch press
conference, he was definitely switching up our starting eleven more than I was
comfortable with. But they all stepped up. And while we saw a few errors from
the likes of Sosa and Gomez that we wouldn’t see in Locatelli and Romagnoli,
the team rallied together and got the win. After being down early. There is
something that is replacing the heralded winning mentality, and that is good
old-fashioned grit.
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| So many feels |
My
condolences to Mihajlovic, he didn’t deserve to be sacked ahead of our Coppa
Italia match in May. And his team really didn’t do him any favors today, they
made a lot of errors. Errors which cost them the game. But maybe it’s just as
well, now that they are out of the Coppa, they can focus on the league.
Certainly with that attacking trio and players like Baselli, they are
underperforming.
The
opposite of underperforming would be Bonaventura. I think he stole the last of
Mihajlovic’s luck at halftime, as he visibly sought out his former coach to
greet him as they were coming back out of the locker rooms. That was awesome. He
had a good first half and a spectacular second half, scoring one goal and
getting the assist on the other. He was like a man possessed. And by that I
mean he also fought every minute to get possession and create chances.
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| The Tank broke the heart of his Balkan Buddy, Mihajlovic |
I had
worried about Gomez, and he started out quite strong and was very solid for
most of the match. But I would always start the birthday boy, Romagnoli (who
had the flu this time) whenever possible. Paletta has been immense, but where
he used to make dumb mistakes, now he just destroys the opposition players.
Like in the 14th, he had a bad foul on Belotti, but got away without a card.
Then in 19th, he stepped so hard on Belotti’s boot, he put a hole in it and he
had to get a new pair. The boot can be replaced, but not the foot inside of it
so much.
In the
15th, Bonaventura got free and was not offside, and was dribbling toward Hart
one on one, but was caught by faster Torino defenders. Then in the 27th, “the
chicken” Belotti, got clear after a couple of defensive errors in the middle of
the pitch and scored, 1-0 Torino. It was only fair, I guess, as Donnarumma had
saved his penalty the last time we met. But quite disappointing that we think
of our exciting young players, and yet it was Paletta, the oldest, who ran the
fastest and nearly caught that chicken. Torino were often faster than many of
our players, actually, with Ljajic totally schooling Gomez in the 30th. But before
the end of the half, there was a sign of things to come in the 35th, when Kuco
sent a bullet of a shot from distance, and it went heartbreakingly just wide.
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| No, YOU'RE awesome |
The
second half started out in a sickening way, with Lapadula trying to run in on
goal and instead ending up running his cleats across Joe Hart’s face. He got a
yellow for that in the 48th, but he was immediately distressed and pacing
around, he was clearly so sorry for what had happened. It seemed to affect him
the rest of the game, too. He was still trying as doggedly for those chances,
but was more clumsy and awkward than usual. Hart did not have a concussion,
apparently, but got bandaged up and was sitting up and laughing right away. He
probably was giggling saying “Lapadula” to himself, but will probably not be
giggling when he sees those scars for life. Because he was the keeper, though,
the incident was responsible for most of the whopping seven minutes of stoppage
time at the end of the match.
It was in
the 61st that Kuco sealed his 50th appearance with a great equalizer, assisted
by Bonaventura. 1-1 Milan. Suso had taken a shot and Bonaventura raced down the
flank to send the cross in for the one Mihajlovic had named “the Tank.” (And
that’s when Mihajlovic learned what it feels like to get run over by a tank.)
Just two minutes later, Bonaventura got his goal, from a great cross by Suso.
It would be the game winner at 2-1 Milan.
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| Literally nobody does it better |
In the
69th, Donnarumma had a massive save on Belotti. Massive. Belotti was coming in
one on one, and Donnarumma shut him down and made the save with his legs. Will
there ever be another keeper this incredible? I don’t think so.
Also
incredible were Montella’s subs. Never one to sub early, Calabria made his
injury comeback in the 79th subbing on for Abate, who had just picked up a
yellow in the 78th for a foul on Belotti. That chicken took a beating today. At
the same time, Pasalic came on for Kuco. Torino went down to ten men because
Barreca got a second yellow and was sent off in the 87th for a bad foul on
Suso. So in the 89th, Montella finally brought Locatelli on for Sosa. Sosa was
only marginally better than Montolivo for me, and the main difference was that
he actually runs. Pretty sure Locatelli is going to keep that starting spot.
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| There's a sight for sore eyes. Welcome back, kid! |
Lapadula
showed the aforementioned clumsiness in the fourth minute of stoppage time, as
he was free one on one with Hart, dribbled around him, but took so long that a
Torino defender schooled him and took his blatant chance on goal. There were a
couple of late free kicks from Ljajic, but to no avail. Not even the one in the
final play of the game when Joe Hart came out of goal and down to the other end
to try to help. You cannot say Torino didn’t try, but their errors ultimately sent
them home.
Whether or not we can get past Juve three times within three months we'll just have to see come January 25th when we meet them in the quarterfinals. But what
impressed me with this match was that the winning mentality has slowly turned
into a more tangible grit with which the players play all 90 minutes with. The
tactics and skills are slowly improving, too, but it is still that unmistakable
and concrete belief that is propelling us to all of these wins. Let’s hope we
have enough saved in the tank for Monday, when we will face Mihajlovic and Torino
again, but this time for three points in the league. And this time in their
house. I like to believe that even if they’re a little tired and have to travel
a little, we’ve got an even better chance now of taking Monday’s match, too.
Because grit.
This post inspired by the music of
Inno Milan
Our next match will
be
Torino vs. Milan
Monday, January 16 •
20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)