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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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)