They call the curse "Fatal Verona," as Verona twice destroyed Milan's Scudetto plans at the Bentegodi, once in 1973 and again in 1990. But not in 2022. This team has too much grinta and too much heart, even when the referees refuse to give penalties, call off goals, or do anything and everything else in their power to stop Milan from winning. The Hellas Verona fans, outnumbered in ticket purchases in their own house, had threatened the Milan fans online this week, but that did not stop Milan fans from coming to support their team. It seemed that everyone in Verona tried to stop Milan, but at the final whistle, it was a Verona fatality.
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| Not today. |
The match started with controversy, as Leão was taken down right around the penalty area, with replays making it appear that he was in the box. No penalty, though, because Milan have not been awarded a penalty since January. Next was a Tonali goal from a Maignan assist, called off, of course. VAR review showed it was offside, with images released suspiciously late and very grainy. I am not sure their cameras actually could zoom out that far to show the goalkeeper and Tonali at the same time, but whatever.
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| They can't take this away from us. |
It was Verona who got on the board first, in the 38th, with a Faraoni goal. That was also VAR reviewed due to a handball on the buildup to the play, but their goal was allowed to stand. Of course. 1-0 Verona. No matter, it was Tonali's birthday, and he was not going to let anyone spoil his party. Nor was his good friend Leão, who came dancing into the box in the final minute of stoppage time, with Tonali just tapping it in for the goal. 1-1 all. Apparently, VAR was unable to find a reason to call that one off, especially considering that the Verona defender had a handful of Tonali's shirt in his hand and the Milan midfielder still scored.
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| How could VAR call that one off? Ceccharini is holding Tonali's shirt as he scored. |
Not satisfied with just a point, the dynamic duo of Leão and Tonali repeated their performance just a few minutes after the break to make it 2-1 Milan. Substitutions were made. Leão nutmegged Faraoni and Montipó barely saved the shot. Then Pioli brought on the experience: Ibrahimović and Florenzi, the latter who was just returning from knee surgery.
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| Only missing a hug for his Nonna |
Florenzi's first touches of the game were a give-and-go with Messias and then a shot from distance sent screaming past Montipó. 3-1 Milan. A beautiful dream ending for Milan, and a fatal blow for the team that dreamed of ending Milan's Scudetto dreams yet again. The heart and soul of this team are a beautiful thing to witness. Unfortunately for the Gialloblu, that heart and soul caused a Verona fatality.
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| "Fatal Verona" what? |
This post inspired by the music of Dani Faiv's "Sandro Tonali"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
9:30 PM
Rating:
