Milan kept a clean sheet and actually scored three goals, despite missing seven players and having an eighth player injured just one minute into the match. Ibrahimović did Ibrahimović things, and Messias showed why he is worthy of Milan – twice. Unfortunately for Shevchenko, whose Genoa side ironically has yet to score a goal in his three matches in charge, this win was at his expense.
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| Milan's joy was Sheva's lament |
In the same minute that saw Cambiasso fire the first shot over, Kjaer went down with a knee injury and had to be stretchered off. Monday night, he was at the pinnacle of his career, being honored as the 18th best player in the world at the Ballon d'or awards, and now he became current missing player number eight. (Sigh) We are awaiting tests to see the extent of his injury. Gabbia was subbed on for him, and with it being only his third appearance, he played like a young center back who hadn't been getting any playing time. He even got the only Milan yellow card of the match in the 32nd minute, and Pioli wisely subbed him off at the half. Pioli seemed to have forgotten how well Kalulu did in the center back spot last year, and Kalulu rewarded his faith with a solid performance once Florenzi came on and he slotted over.
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| Hell yeah. |
Ibrahimović opened up the scoring in the 10th minute with a solid free kick that Sirigu helplessly watched scream by as he stood motionless. 1-0 Milan. In the 21st minute, Tonali was fouled incredibly hard, but the referee, Sacchi, did not give a card. Brahim Díaz had a brilliant piece of dribbling and a shot that was just barely over the bar in the 42nd minute. But it was Messias who got the next goal in stoppage time, a fantastic header after Krunić's poor effort in front of goal was deflected by a Genoa player. 2-0 Milan.
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| Poetic. |
In spite of the great goals, my favorite moment of the game was actually in the 48th. Maignan had a fantastic save, parrying the ball, and then Tomori cleared it off the line with an overhead bicycle kick goal line clearance. Absolutely delicious. And it was even more impressive than it sounds. Having both players back was phenomenal, and clearly key to keep the clean sheet. After a bit of a tentative performance on Sunday on his return from surgery, Maignan approached full throttle tonight with much more confidence. His save in the 80th to tip Portanova's shot just over the bar was also amazing.
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| Double the pleasure. |
Messias scored another goal in the 61st, with an easy pass from Brahim Díaz, but a fantastic one-touch shot across to the opposite lower corner of the goal. 3-0 Milan. Not even having Bakayoko on the pitch for the last 15 minutes or so could mess this up (and he didn't get carded, either!) This was a great confidence re-building win that was much needed after our last two league matches. Although we did lose Kjaer to injury, that really hurts. While it was nice to see Sheva hugging Dida and Maldini at the end, as well as the reuniting of old friends Tassotti and Maldini, our joy was Sheva's lament.
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| Delicious defending. |
This post inspired by the music of The Smiths' "Back to the Old House"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
11:59 PM
Rating:
