After such a poor start in the first three matches, Milan were desperate for their first three points. Not only that, but they were greeted by thousands of fans ahead of the match on the team bus, with only a slightly menacing banner from the Curva Sud that read, "No more excuses, Last call." Fonseca, too, had been criticized for his stubborn tactics nonstop the past two weeks, and even in his prematch press conference said he believed in his football, but ultimately made the changes everyone else was encouraging him to. The result was the reaction that Milan was in such dire need of to qualm the myriad controversies surrounding the club right now, and poor newly promoted Venezia were the victims. There are still many problems, but the mentality of the fans and team will be much improved now that they have drawn first blood.
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| United in victory. |
The reaction was immediate, as Rafa Leão and Theo Hernández linked up for a goal within the 2nd minute, Leão providing a spectacular twisting backheel assist, and Theo slotting it past poor Jeronen, whose nightmare was just beginning. 1-0 Milan. Amidst his celebration, Theo silenced his critics, of which there have been far too many lately. That goal also brought Theo's all-time Milan tally up to 28 goals, putting him in second place for goals from defenders, just one behind the legendary Paolo Maldini.
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| Captain Theo giving Leão credit for his brilliant assist. |
Venezia managed to take a couple of shots, but nothing too dangerous. On the other end, however, the advantage of playing Reijnders in a more advanced role were demonstrated in the 16th minute, when he dribbled in past the defenders, then sent the ball into an onrushing Pulisic, only to have a defender block it. On the resulting Pulisic free kick, however,
In the 22nd minute, Jeronen's night went from bad to worse. Having already conceded two goals, Reijnders took a shot, which the Venezia keeper was fumbling to save when Tammy Abraham was coming in for the rebound. And not only did Jeronen not control the ball, his hand made contact with Abraham, taking him down in the box. Di Marco awarded a penalty, and after a few worrying minutes where Tammy Abraham was down and getting some treatment, Pulisic took the penalty and converted it. 3-0 Milan. With that goal and an assist, Pulisic was also awarded the Serie A Player of the Match.
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| Pulisic with the goal from the penalty and the assist for Fofana. |
Absolutely nothing was going Venezia's way, as just three minutes later, Rafa Leão was down in the box in pain. Referee Di Marco had apparently not seen the contact, but after the VAR booth had him go to the monitor to review the play, it was clear that Schingtienne had stepped on Leão's foot. Di Marco had no choice but to show him a yellow card and award Milan a second penalty. Tammy Abraham was fully recovered from his knock, apparently, and he took the penalty and converted it to make it 4-0 Milan. His first goal in his first start for the club.
Perhaps to make Venezia feel better, Gabbia fouled Candela in the 38th and earned himself a yellow card. There was a bit of physicality being traded between the Inter youth product Oristanio and Theo, and that resulted in Theo giving him a more than friendly shove in the back in the 42nd minute, but Di Marco did not call it, and VAR could not review it, as it was just outside the area. Truly, nothing was going Venezia's way. Milan were up 4-0 at halftime.
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| Tammy Abraham taking in all the love for his first Milan goal. |
The second half was basically more of the same, Milan controlled a majority of possession, just as Fonseca likes it, and took a few more shots, but did not seem as worried about scoring with such a massive lead. Emerson Royal got into the box and tried taking a shot, hitting it directly into the face of one of the defenders. Okay, not everything was working for Milan.
Two minutes later, Fonseca made tactical changes: Morata replaced Leão, and Okafor replaced Reijnders. Leão was reluctant to come off, and no one could blame him. He had a great game, and this felt personal, even if he gave Fonseca a hug as he came off. Fonseca seems to have some strange need for power, as his post-match comments about Leão give the impression that he has bought into the media's version of him, treating him as some sort of child, rather than getting to know Leão the man and the player.
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| Fofana got credit for the second goal, his first for Milan. |
As if being 4-0 down at halftime and having conceded two penalties was not enough bad luck for Venezia, things actually got worse for them. In the 67th, Nicolussi Cavaglia was shown a yellow card for flying into a tackle on Tammy Abraham, very dangerous, and a very warranted card. Just four minutes later, though, in the build up to Zampano's goal for Venezia, Nicolussi Cavaglia passed the ball, and on the follow through, his boot went studs up into Loftus-Cheek's calf. Obviously, Zampano then went on to score the goal, and Venezia were celebrating while there was a VAR check going on. Once again, Di Marco went to the monitor, and he came back with a second yellow and then a red card for Nicolussi-Cavaglia. The goal was called off, and Venezia were on 10 men.
I know the second yellow was a correct interpretation of the rules. Studs into the calf is incredibly dangerous. But certainly, Di Marco did not catch it in real time, and honestly, Nicolussi Cavaglia played the ball, while Loftus-Cheek got there just a fraction of a second too late. It certainly was not malicious or intentional, and these types of calls are where I do not like VAR, because it delays and changes a game that was meant to be fluid. There are physical risks to playing the game, and while I also want to protect our players, had this same incident happened on a play that did not end up as a goal, Venezia would have finished the match on eleven men. It's difficult not to feel that Di Francesco's side got the short end of the stick in this one.
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| Good thing they won so convincingly, to keep the Curva Sud from taking whatever next step... |
Fonseca brought Musah on for Abraham in the 74th minute, then Chukwueze and Zeroli on for Pulisic and Fofana just five minutes later. It was nice that he gave Zeroli some time, considering that he has often been called up but never used, and we likely will need him now that Bennacer is out. Also, Milan Futuro had lost their match just two hours before, and he and Bartesaghi got to experience a win instead.
Let's be fair, this win was every bit as much about how poor Venezia were as it was about Milan's improvements. Two penalties, a goal from a set piece, and a quick goal from open play are not likely to happen against more difficult opponents. But Fonseca showed some humility in recognizing that by changing to a 4-3-3 system, he got more out of the players he had, and relied a little bit less on his fullbacks, which helped stabilize the midfield, something we have desperately needed. Most importantly, we did not have to learn what the Curva Sud had in mind next after their "Last call" banner, and the team got a boost of confidence by drawing first blood.
Milan Primavera Triumph 4-1 Over Empoli
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| Scotti's brace helped lift the Primavera to their third victory of the season |
Milan Futuro Lose 2-0 to Ascoli at Home
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| Missing a few starters, but showing promise. |
Milan Futuro suffered their second loss in three league matches on Saturday, dropping all three points in a 2-0 loss to Ascoli at home. The conceded a penalty and then a goal from open play within ten minutes in the first half and were not able to recover. Both Bartesaghi and Zeroli were with the first team, and Camarda was still recovering from a slight injury. Much has been spoken about Fonseca's job being at risk after having earned only two points from nine in his first three matches, but Bonera's side has only one point to show thus far. However, with a brand new team, it is hoped there will be more patience with this project. They will fact Torres on Wednesday night.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
11:30 PM
Rating:
