Atalanta 1, Milan 3: Boom

I feel for Atalanta. Not only does the final score not do their team justice, but they were actually the better team on the night. However, when you have moments of individual brilliance, sometimes, that is enough. And such was the case in this game. Milan went from a goal down to winning 3-1. Boom.

Boom

The first scare came from Djimsiti, an Atalanta defender, in the fourth minute, as his header went just over. Atalanta had us pinned back for at least the first ten minutes or so, at least until Kessie took a couple of chances, determined to score against his former team. But it was his former team that broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute with a Freuler goal. 1-0 Atalanta.

Suso got a yellow in the first half, meaning he will miss Friday’s Empoli match. Speaking of misses, Calhanoglu’s miss in the 38th minute earned him a storm of whistles and boos from Milan fans. But they were cheering just fine a few minutes later in the 45th plus one when Rodriguez sent in a great cross that Piatek took on the volley, without even really looking at the goal, scoring the perfect equalizer. 1-1 all. Almost as entertaining was Calhanoglu’s reaction to the goal, which Piatek also mirrored during his celebrations.

Fans went from zero to... well, you know...

The Milan faithful in Bergamo became very hypocritical when they suddenly cheered for Calhanoglu in the 55th minute as he finally scored for the first time this season in Serie A. 2-1 Milan. Calhanoglu celebrated with Gattuso and everyone, having wanted his goal so desperately for so long, and well he should have, that was a great goal. But I did not so easily forget the fans who have been abusing him for a while now and how quickly they flipped when luck finally graced him for the goal.

Just to be sure Atalanta could not come back and take our fourth place spot, Piatek scored a second goal in the 61st minute. 3-1 Milan. It was a header, from a Calhanoglu corner, and Piatek was facing a keeper who was fully four inches taller, but that didn’t matter. His “pistolero” celebration came out again to the entertainment of Milan fans everywhere, and suddenly it felt like Milan were going to take this match for sure.

Sometimes the best defense is just the best defense

On paper, it wasn’t fair. Atalanta had twice as many shots, and 60% possession. They were the better team for much of the game. But Milan managed to keep Duvan Zapata quiet after he had scored some ridiculous figure like 15 goals in ten appearances. Between that and the individual brilliance that shone on the goals, Milan kept their fourth place spot and had some very happy fans, too. Perhaps it isn’t fair, but football is often unfair. All I know is that these three points were something important, and at the end of the match, my heart went boom.

This post inspired by the music of X Ambassadors “Boom”

Our next match is

Serie A Week 25

Milan vs. Empoli

Friday, February 22 • 20:30 CET (2:30pm EST)