After some poor performances and some worse results, Milan fans had been waiting for the team to react. Wow, what a performance. And a reaction. This game had everything, and Milan managed to win, too. With 24 shots on goal between the two teams, three goals called back, a penalty and six yellow cards, it was an intense match from start to finish. Unfortunately, it also had at least three injuries for Milan. So was this three points worth three important injuries ahead of six games in 16 days? Including our Europa League matches with Manchester United? We have yet to see the price of winning.
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| Three of 11 starters were injured in this epic battle |
Milan exploded from the first whistle, with Tomori and Ibrahimovic both having goals called back for offside within the first ten minutes. There was a triple chance for Milan in the 14th minute, but all three were blocked. Rebic forced Pau Lopez into a great fingertip save in the 17th minute. And it just kept going. Roma's first chance was a Mancini shot in the 20th, but Gigio easily saved it. Kjaer hit the crossbar in the 27th, only to have a Mkhitaryan goal called back for offside due to a foul on Theo Hernandez before the shot. Pau Lopez parried three times in two minutes, and Mkhitaryan somehow missed a 1v1 with Gigio in the 38th.
It wasn't until the 41st minute, when Fazio stomped on Calabria just inside the box to give Milan yet another penalty. After a VAR review, Kessie stepped up and converted it to finally break the deadlock. 1-0 Milan. It seemed that after such an eventful first half, maybe the second half would be less intense, but not in this match.
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| An all too familiar sight. Seriously. |
Brahim Diaz came on for Calhanoglu at the half, our number 10 the first casualty of the game. Veretout scored a great goal for Roma in the 50th to equalize, 1-1 all. In the 56th, Ibrahimovic couldn't continue due to injury, so Leao replaced him. Then in the 58th, Saelemaekers sent in a great cross to Rebic, who nailed it home. 2-1 Milan. But less than ten minutes later, he, too was down, so in the 67th, Krunic came on for Rebic. Mayoral also had a 1v1 chance with Gigio that was wide, but would have been offside anyway. Not even introducing former Milan darling El Shaarawy could change Roma's fate. Mkhitaryan shot over. Then Saelemaekers' shot was wide. Bruno Peres forced Gigio into a great save, then Tomori forced Pau Lopez into a point blank save. They just couldn't stop, it was amazing.
Roma had some questions in the 79th when Mkhitaryan took on Theo Hernandez and poked the ball, and therefore his entire leg, between Theo's legs, and was subsequently wrestled to the ground. However, they did not get a penalty. Krunic then wowed everyone with a great shot from distance. Castillejo went down screaming in pain in the first minute of stoppage time, his tiny little ankle the source of pain, let's hope he is not a fourth injury. Gigio saved another Mkhitaryan shot in the final minute of stoppage time, and almost unbelievably for our recent luck, at the final whistle, Milan got the win.
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| Fantastic performance, great goal, but how long will he be out this time? |
I could watch this game over and over, it was an amazing performance from both sides. Had Roma had fewer injuries, who knows what would have happened? Milan earned the win, with 20 shots, 14 of which were on target. Yes, 14 shots on target. Literally more shots on target than our fouls called in an intense and physical match. But Roma had 17 shots, 10 of which were on target. Suddenly, although the points difference between first and second is exactly the same as last week, everyone is saying that Milan are back in the title race. Amazing how results driven the media and social media are.
It remains to be seen how serious the injuries are. But losing Calhanoglu, Ibrahimovic, and Rebic all in one match with this ridiculous schedule coming up could cost us more than if we had we dropped points in this game. For most fans, I think this incredible reaction of a performance made a huge difference in our hopes, but it would be a shame if the injuries then dashed those hopes. That is sometimes the price of winning.
This match inspired by the music of The Prodigy's "Take Me to the Hospital"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
7:59 PM
Rating:
