Milan
fans have been high on the grinta
Kool-Aid all season long, and coming down from that high is very painful. The
truth hurts, and the truth is that Roma have a squad built to contend for the
Scudetto and Milan have a squad that is at best built to stave off relegation.
Lazio destroying Roma last week gave us hope that Roma would roll over and play
dead for us, but that was not to be. The wolves smelled blood and attacked
relentlessly, only allowing us a single consolation goal.
 |
| A goal is great, but it's not much consolation when the grinta Kool-Aid wears off |
Disparity
is the word most commonly used amongst pundits for this match. The disparity of
talent between the two squads is ridiculous. We love our players, and those who
have scored big goals or otherwise had big moments are heroes to us, but when
put in the gladiator ring, they don’t stand a chance. And neither did the team
as a whole, really.
The pain
began early, when Dzeko scored a screamer from just inside the box in the
eighth minute. 1-0 Roma. We had some chances, they had some chances, and then
once again Dzeko scored in the 28th. 2-0 Roma. Roma would take 17 shots in the
first half alone, a Serie A record this season for poor Donnarumma to face. In
all, they would take 24 shots with ten on target.
 |
| The man was a contortionist and still conceded four goals |
Montella
started off the second half replacing Mati Fernandez with Bertolacci, just
coming back from injury. I’m not sure if he forgot what Bertolacci could and
couldn’t do, but it certainly wasn’t an impact sub. Then came the parade of
cards. Rizzoli, doing his best referee impersonation, gave Vangioni a yellow in
the 48th, Lapadula one in the 59th, and Bertolacci and Manolas each one in the
63rd, when he was losing control of the match. Montella subbed off Vangioni for
Ocampos in the 69th, which is like trading in a wooden nickel for a coin slug.
Donnarumma
had a nice save on il Faraone in the
74th, which clearly inspired Pasalic to score the consolation goal from a
corner in the 76th. 2-1 Roma. But El Shaarawy came back for more in the 78th to
make it 3-1. In the meantime, Ocampos’ contribution to the match was to earn
himself a yellow in the 77th. Not to be outdone, Paletta gifted Roma a penalty
in the 86th by earning a straight red, his fourth of the season. That puts him
top in all five major leagues in Europe… for the most red cards earned in a
season. To put that into perspective, the entire squad (including him) only
earned three red cards all last season. That…. that is… well, that is
something, I guess.
 |
| Our defender-strikers battled but could not convert (or defend, really) |
So with
Milan on ten men for the last five minutes, De Rossi stepped up and converted
the penalty to make it 4-1 Roma. Ouch. But never one to throw in the towel,
Montella subbed Sosa off for Gomez. Because, you know, our defense wasn’t
shambolic enough already. I would say “this is why we can’t have nice things,”
but the truth is we really don’t have nice things, and we should not be
expecting as much as they’ve already given us this year.
Spalletti,
on the other hand is shameful. In his squad, he has the King of Rome, a legend
in his own right, the royal Francesco Totti. The man had four games left in his
career, and the man who spent much of his coaching career with a landing strip
for facial hair didn’t have the class or decency to give him even five minutes.
Even Milan’s Curva, who attacked our own player two weeks ago, made a banner
honoring the rival and legend that is Totti. What is wrong with Spalletti? The
man has played for over 25 years, and he can’t even have five minutes? Vergogna.
 |
| No wonder he left the door open for a return to Roma... they at least buy quality players |
So all in
all, a bad day was just really, really bad. El Shaarawy didn’t celebrate his
goal, but it didn’t stop me from being instantly nauseated and infinitely sad
all at once. Everything else was a blur of pain, and missing our chance to
watch Totti play one last time at the San Siro just ruined a perfectly good
Inter-lost-again high. The man has three games left in his career now, and if I
were Spalletti, I’d play him as much as I could. The loss hurt, I’m not gonna
lie, but then again, the truth hurts. Bad.
This post inspired
by the music of the Kings of Leon
Our next match is
Atalanta vs. Milan
Saturday, May 13 •
20:45 CST (2:45pm EDT)