This game was remarkably unremarkable for about 94 minutes.
And then it got interesting. After so much back and forth and so many shots
wide or saved, a serious of unfortunate events for Udinese led to one beautiful
shot hitting the back of the net. With VAR checks almost doubling the six
minutes of stoppage time, this game left it all to the death.
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| Hell yeah. |
The first half was filled with shots, more from Udinese than
Milan. All in all, Udinese had 13 shots, three on target, even if it seemed
like more. Milan were more clinical, with 15 shots total, seven on target. The
bigger drama was when Higuain took a knock to his back, then had to be subbed
off in the 35th. Zapata also got some Lasagna to the face in the 31st, when
Udinese’s Italian international dragged his foot after a Zapata tackle.
The second half was filled with cards. After only one yellow
card in the first half, there were five yellows and one red in the second half.
It got more interesting with some nice shots, and some nice saves, too, like
Gigio’s point blank save on Lasagna in the 85th. The introduction of Borini in
the 73rd did not deter from Milan’s performance excessively, other than the
aberration that is his hair color.
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| Scariest moments of the match |
After six minutes of stoppage time were added, Nuytinck
fouled the speedy Castillejo in frustration in the 94th and saw a straight red.
After the standard protests and VAR review, the match was restarted sans
Nuytinck, who had only subbed on ten minutes prior. And that’s when Romagnoli
decided he wasn’t going to let another three points slip through Milan’s
fingers. With an assist from Suso, he sent the ball screaming into the back of
the net, 1-0 Milan.
There was some confusion, protests, and a VAR review, as you
do in Serie A. The confusion was whether or not Cutrone was offside when the
ball was initially sent in on the play, and the VAR review showed that he was
not. During that time, Di Bello was able to give out one more card, a yellow to
Romagnoli for excessive celebrating. I know we would miss Romagnoli dearly if
and when he accumulates too many yellow cards, but I forgave him for this one
before he even received it.
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| So many feels |
The match was not the most impressive display from either
side. And after a tough match in which Udinese would have clearly been happy
with the draw, it must have really hurt to lose like that. But for Milan, to
take all three points in the dying minutes, and maintain our fourth place berth
on the table was immense. Particularly in light of so many key injuries. But the biggest accomplishment was the clean sheet,
our first in Serie A this season. All of these things have got to do so much
for Milan’s confidence going forward, even if they left it all to the death.
This post inspired by the music of
Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party”
Our next match is
Europa League
Real Betis vs. AC Milan
Thursday, November
8 • 21:00 CET (3pm EST)