It wasn’t Milan’s finest hour. With no strikers starting, we
all expected the worst. But it seems that those pesky strikers were apparently always
in the way of the goal, and without them, the other players could finally score.
In all seriousness, what started out as a horrific performance turned into an
amazing result thanks to some individual brilliance. Instead of another
disappointment, this match was a Milan goalfest.
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| The feel-good moment of the night |
There was a shot for each side in the first four minutes,
but Milan looked sluggish and uncertain. Biglia got a yellow in the 17th, and
then Kessie got a clear shot on goal in the 25th… only to have it cleared off
the line by their defense. Di Francesco forced Gigio into a big save in the 31st,
and then Abate made a beautiful tackle on Di Francesco in the 34th. All of
those things were like winding up a rubber band, and especially after being
previously denied, it was Kessie that broke the tension with a great goal in
the 39th. 1-0 Milan. He tricked Consigli and made no mistake this time.
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| No mistake this time |
So we were up 1-0 at the half, like we had been so many
times recently, and I, for one, feared the worst. But what I got was such a
pleasant surprised. In the 50th minute, Suso scored a beautiful goal, despite
being hounded by Ferrari. 2-0 Milan. Great to see him break his scoring
drought, and even better to watch him hug Gattuso. Sassuolo got a little bit of
the wind knocked out of them with the second goal, but still maintained 60%
possession throughout the match. The odd thing was both teams managed 12 shots.
But this time, it was Milan who were clinical, with eight of those shots being
on target, whereas only two of Sassuolo’s goals were on target.
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| First goal in a Milan jersey |
In the 60th minute, Calhanoglu took a shot assisted by
Castillejo, then Castillejo scored his debut goal on an assist from Calhanoglu.
3-0 Milan. Things were feeling much better, even if the football wasn’t the
best. And then, of course, we had to concede in the 68th, with the sub Djuricic
doing the damage. 3-1 Milan. Despite bringing on an actual striker in the 72nd
in Cutrone, Suso was not happy enough with his goal. Or maybe he was angry
about conceding the goal. Either way, in the final minute, he scored a second.
And even if there was a VAR review on it, it stood. 4-1 Milan. An unthinkable
scoreline based on recent games.
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| Take a bow |
It was a very emotional night, not just for the team or even
for the 3,200 traveling Milan fans at the Stadio Reggio Emila, but for fans all
over the world. There is plenty of work still to be done, but this shocked us
out of our rut of drawing to teams we should be beating. It wasn't a great performance, but the result was amazing. And even more
importantly, Sassuolo were at home, a team that we should not have beaten based
on performances and their position on the table. Hilarious that we should score
so many goals, too, based on not having any strikers on the pitch. But it just
goes to show you that Milan are actually rebuilding, and that heart and
individual skills do count for something. That’s how you get a goalfest.
This post inspired by the music of Imagine
Dragons’ “Believer”
Our next match is
Europa League
Group Stage
Milan vs. Olympiakos
Thursday, October
4 • 18:55 CEST (12:55pm EDT)