The lunchtime game is always a bit of a surprise. For Leão's 100th appearance, he decided to score the first goal, which also turned out to be the winner. With a very unusual assist. Sampdoria tried everything, but it was their goalkeeper, Falcone, who was Man of the Match. He had six saves, many of them heartstopping. But Milan won with the one that got away. Now Milan go top of the table, although Inter have a game in hand. The table is set.
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| One goal was all it took |
The match opened up right away with Maignan sending a ball forward to Leão, who, with a burst of speed and skill, dribbled around defenders and seemingly easily scored on Falcone. 1-0 Milan. That is the first goalkeeper assist in Serie A since Dida did it in 2006, according to @OptaPaolo. Dida is, of course, Maignan's goalkeeping coach now. He was rewarded for that assist with a foul from Rincón, who was awarded with a yellow for running into the Milan goalkeeper.
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| Top of the table goal |
The rest of the first half was a bit of warfare, with Brahim Díaz and Romagnoli both picking up yellow cards, and Tonali very fortunately not. But injury scares to both Leão and Tomori were very frightening. Other than the fouls and cards, Messias had a great shot that was spectacularly saved just before the halftime whistle.
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| Maignan with one save, one assist |
The second half was far more eventful, with five of Falcone's six saves on Giroud, Romagnoli, and Rebić. Oh, and a yellow for Bennacer, too. Milan were dominant right after the half, but Sampdoria fought hard the last ten minutes or so, looking for the equalizer. In the end, they did not get it, and Leão's brilliant goal was all we needed for all three points in this lunchtime game, and a spot at the head of the table.
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| Seriously, though... how did Giroud not score? |
This post inspired by the music of Garbage
Reviewed by Elaine
on
5:45 AM
Rating:
