Atalanta are the team that you would love to hate. But why would anyone hate them? They have done so much with so very little in terms of finance, and they play delightful football. After destroying the hopes and dreams of even unborn Milanisti in December, this Milan came to avenge that loss tonight. We were not able to take all three points, but the result was very fair, especially with our missing players. All is fair in love and war.
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| In love and war |
The best highlight was when the two captains met. Gigio Donnarumma stands 6’5” tall, and Papu Gomez is 5’6” tall. I had only just stopped laughing when Calhanoglu opened the scoring with an impeccable free kick, it was all Gollini could do to get a hand to it. 1-0 Milan. Milan fans everywhere… no, football fans everywhere will be dreaming of that free kick tonight. And perhaps for many nights to come. It was absolutely exquisite.
Ten minutes later, however, there was a VAR review on a play in which Biglia clumsily stamped on an Atalanta player and was lucky to only see a yellow. However, Doveri rightfully awarded a penalty, which Malinovskyi stepped up to take, and Gigio saved! A huge, epic save. Unfortunately, some sloppy defending allowed Zapata to score an equalizer just ten minutes after that. 1-1 all.
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| Captain Donnarumma makes the save |
The second half was a fierce but entertaining battle. A sitting on the edge of your seat battle. Like watching Rebic chase down a ball in the 48th to trouble Gollini. Or watching Rebic do anything, really. Zapata had a shot deflected just wide, and just a minute later, Bonaventura’s shot hit the post and then Gollini’s face. Ouch. Most notably for me, as a known critic of Laxalt, in the 89th, he put in a perfect cross, only Ibrahimovic went down in the box (but no call, of course, since he is bigger.)
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| The free kick fans have been begging for |
For me, the game absolutely lived up to its expectations. We went from a club with no belief, destroyed by Atalanta in December, to keeping up step for step with the current second placed team, who are also in Champions League. What a great way to celebrate how far we’ve come. Sure, three points would have been even better, but then again, all is fair in love and war.
This post inspired by the music of Cigarettes after Sex’s “Truly”
Our next match is
Serie A Week 37
Sampdoria vs. Milan
Wednesday, July 29 • 19:30 CEST (1:30 EDT)