Going into this match, the lust for third place was real, at
least amongst Milan fans. Despite knowing the spell Sassuolo has cast on us
previously, we were all hungry to bypass Inter and and try the third place spot
on for size. Whether it was exhaustion after the midweek match with Lazio or an
actual mentality issue, Milan did not seem to be up to the task today. But that
didn’t stop them from trying, nor Sassuolo for making enough errors to gift us
the game. When the whistle blew at the end of the match, how we got the three
points didn’t seem relevant any more, even if we were fortunate.
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| Fortunate to have him |
The game was a physical battle, Milan chalked up 20 fouls
and three yellow cards, not our usual style. Almost everything we did was
awkward, which included the goal. In the 35th, from a corner, Piatek tried to
head it in, but it seemed to be Musacchio, diving on/over him that got the last
touch. So awkward. In fact, it was so awkward, Valeri used VAR to see if it was
even legitimate. In the end, the league ruled that it was actually last touched
by Lirola and gave him the own goal, 1-0 Milan. Just seven minutes later, Boga,
having also just hit the post, scored a goal, but it was reviewed by VAR and
determined to be offside, so no goal.
Bakayoko got his card in the 37th and was lucky not to get a
second shortly into the second half, so Gattuso wisely subbed him off for
Biglia in the 56th. It was an early sub, a proactive sub, and benefitted Biglia
getting more minutes, too. Paqueta also earned himself a yellow in the 51st,
but wasn’t subbed off until the 73rd. Finally, Cutrone was subbed on for Piatek
in the 84th, but it wasn’t enough time to make a difference.
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| Even with a long VAR review, it was a red |
The dealbreaker was in the 64th minute, when Consigli
reached out to stop Piatek on a 1 v 1 situation in the box. Valeri immediately
showed him the red card, but then there was almost four minutes of VAR review
before he was finally dismissed and Sassuolo were reduced to ten men. There was
a lot of controversy about this call, but it was fairly straightforward. People
questioned whether or not Piatek sold it or whether there was enough contact
from Consigli. But at the end of the day, he wasn’t tapping Piatek on the
shoulder to ask him to dance. He made a clear effort to stop Piatek, and his
contact was enough to bring him down as he was running full force. Consigli
knew better, he messed up, and Valeri had to show him the red. A goalkeeper is
simply not allowed to do that.
Sassuolo on ten men should have made life easier for Milan,
and the visitors certainly had fewer shots after that. But when Matri is your
go to sub, it’s not going to go well for you. Also, when Gigio is the
opposition goalkeeper, your team is going to have to do better than that to get
the ball past him. Gigio had another great match. I hated how we just closed
down and played so defensively, though. Rodriguez was even carded for
timewasting in the 90th +2 minute. Which was really stupid, even if he may have done it so he won't miss the Derby. Timewasting is poor sportsmanship in my opinion.
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| One of Milan's better opportunities, but Pegolo was up to the task |
Sassuolo were definitely the better team on the day, but
Milan capitalized on their errors and thus got the three points. Despite the
spell that Sassuolo have long held over Milan, those three points came at
crucial point in our season. We were able to take
advantage of all of our closest rivals on the table dropping points
lately. But most importantly, we are above Inter for the first time this
season. While the way we played is disappointing, and I am certainly concerned
about what that means for the rest of our season, it feels amazing to be in
third place and above those stupid snakes. For this week, we managed to surpass
our goal of fourth place and dream bigger. Third place is now ours to lose, and
Milan are very fortunate.
This post was inspired by the music of
X Ambassadors’ “Boom”
Our next match
will be
Serie A Week 27
Chievo vs. Milan
Saturday, March 9
• 20:30 CET (2:30pm EST)