Saturday, July 18, 2020

Milan 5, Bologna 1: Take Five


Milan made lunchmeat of Mihajlovic’s Bologna, and it felt like they could have also maybe been a side salad, too. As Milan’s mentality gets stronger, the rumors become that much more painful. I cannot be the only one who wants to see this team, improved by one more mercato, take the pitch again in September and see what they can do. But for now, we’ll have to be grateful for the beautiful football and the goalfest on display tonight. Take five.

So many feels

Milan started relentlessly in attack, and you could see in Skorupski’s fear-filled eyes that it was going to be a long shift for him. The first goal was Saelemaekers’ very first Milan goal, assisted by Hernandez in the 10th minute. 1-0 Milan. In the 24th, Calhanoglu took advantage of a poor Skorupski clearance and punished him, 2-0 Milan.

From zero to hero, suspended to scoring

Milan continued to attack, and while they were a little messy at times and gave Bologna too many chances, the three points were never really in question. Not even in the 44th, when Tomiyasu saw his shot from distance, took it, and scored his first ever goal for Bologna, too. 2-1 Milan.

Finally, love for Calhanoglu

The second half saw more goals. Three, in fact. The first, in keeping with the theme of first goals for individual players was Bennacer in the 49th. He drove through traffic and took the shot, unmistakable. 3-1 Milan. Kjaer and Saelemaekers each got yellows for good measure, and then in the 57th, Rebic took a cross from Ibrahimovic and slotted it home. 4-1 Milan. Not surprising, after Rebic was interviewed this week and talked about how much he prefers playing with Ibrahimovic.

Exactly how we felt, too. Warrior.

After the allotted 73 subs were made, the second half cooling break occurred, and numerous shots of the 23 Milan took (13 on target,) Gigio handled a backpass, giving a very dangerous indirect free kick to Bologna. However, his mess, he cleaned it up, he saved the free kick and Milan went on winning. Calabria scored the fifth goal in stoppage time, from a great Leao assist. 5-1 Milan.

Fierce love for our top goalscorer

I would apologize to Mihajlovic, but he did get to see the fruits of his labors, even in loss. Having brought Romagnoli to Milan and given Gigio his start, it can’t have been all bad to see them dominate… just much better to watch someone else’s team get dominated by them, I’m sure. He’s been through a lot, I wish him the best, but for tonight, he was forced to stand and watch as his former team made mincemeat of his current team. Ouch. Take five.


This post inspired by the music of Dave Brubeck Quartet’s “Take Five”


Our next match is
Serie A Week 35
Sassuolo vs. Milan
Tuesday, July 21 • 21:45 CEST (3:45pm EDT)