Twice this season, Milan have played spectacular matches, then faced Cagliari a few days later. Twice now this season, Cagliari have earned a point with a draw vs. Milan following those spectacular matches. The first time was after Milan miraculously defeated Real Madrid 3-1 in Spain. Four days later, Milan played a disappointing 3-3 draw away to Cagliari in Sardinia. This time, obviously, Milan defeated Inter to win the Supercoppa on Monday, then Saturday, played to a frustrating 1-1 draw with Cagliari at the San Siro. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you draw with a relegation-threatened side. This year, Cagliari are our hangover team.
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| Regrouping at the end of the match. |
I'm not even sure how to break down this match. Conceição said that the first half was the worst half of football he's ever seen in his twelve years of coaching, particularly given the quality of our players. I disagree, having seen a number of the Porto matches he has managed. But while his passion may have led to a bit of hyperbole, Milan took a lot of chances in the first half and were unable to break the deadlock. While Cagliari had one shot on goal, in the 40th minute, forcing Maignan into an incredible save, one of his best all season. Calabria also had an amazing tackle, but that was about it.
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| An incredible save from Maignan. |
One can only imagine what was broken in the dressing room at halftime, or what was communicated through screaming, etc., but Milan came out slightly more focused. In the 47th minute, Pulisic's shot just hit the top of the crossbar, going over. Then, in the 51st, he hit the post, but Morata was there to tap in the rebound. Finally. 1-0 Milan.
Thiaw blocked a Piccoli shot with a very sensitive part of his body, but was able to get up and play again. Just in time for Fofana to make a couple of unusual errors in the midfield that led to Cagliari having the ball in our area, and Zortea's shot getting past Maignan as it skipped off the ground a bit. 1-1 all. Maignan had the best save of his season and the worst error of this season all in one match. Perhaps he was distracted by the farewell tribute to our former goalkeeper, Fabio Cudicini. He may have even still been trying to figure out why Cudicini was called "The Black Spider."
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| Maignan laid Fabio Cudicini's shirt on the pitch ahead of the match in tribute to the former keeper. |
Either way, both Fofana and Maignan have been playing out of their minds lately, so I'm not holding a grudge. Besides, Fofana tried to make up for it with a decent shot almost immediately afterward, but it was saved. Just like all the other saves their new goalkeeper, Caprile, made. Eleven saves in all, which, as far as I can find, is a season high number of saves for one match in Serie A. Why he was not awarded Serie A Player of the Match is beyond me. Milan took 24 shots in all, with eleven on target.
Conceição subbed on Tammy Abraham for Musah and Jiménez for Calabria in the 62nd minute, both very attacking subs, trying to get another goal. Just a minute later, Abraham was down in the box, with Mkoumbou having stepped on his foot in the box (as well has made some other contact.) Fourneau did not see it, and VAR did not ask him to look at it, either, despite the fact that Abraham needed medical treatment.
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| Abraham needed treatment for a foul that was never called, a penalty never given. |
Also, apparently, the AIA (Italian Referee Association) decided at some point this year that only a "full" stamp becomes a "clear and obvious error" for VAR to intervene. I wouldn't mind demonstrating on to all of them the injuries that can occur with anything less than a "full stamp." Obviously, there was no call at all, least of all a penalty, although there should have been one given.
Shooting practice The match continued, and Felici straight arm shoved Jiménez out and down to the ground in the 74th minute, but apparently, that's fine. Also, in the 82nd minute, Jiménez attempted a shot, and Caprile also attempted to smother that shot. While Jiménez literally got the ball, Fourneau showed him a yellow card.
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| Morata's goal fele more like a consolation than a celebration. |
I always advocate to protect the goalkeeper, and this is the one time the referee does? It wasn't even a foul, both players were just doing their jobs. Although Jiménez did risk a second yellow for dissent, because he was upset about the card, too. But luckily, Reijnders grabbed him, pushed him away from the referee, and visibly told him to keep his head.
In keeping with the tradition of Fonseca when a match is so intense like this one was, Conceição used only three subs for this match. But his third sub was a good one. He subbed on Bob Murphy Omoregbe from Milan Futuro, who made his debut in the 88th minute, replacing Leão. Omoregbe did make a fantastic little run and a cross in toward the box in the 92nd minute, but Caprile shut that down, too, before Abraham could get to it. Theo Hernandez had his free kick saved in the 96th minute, another fantastic save from Caprile. And that was about it.
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| Bob Murphy Omoregbe got his debut with the first team and made a solid first impression. |
Some fans are criticizing Milan players for not being able to finish their shots. Okay, but this negates the fact that Davide Nicola, his team hovering just above relegation, prepared a completely defensive game plan for his team. While they really could have used the win, they were more than happy with a point at San Siro. And Caprile... they could probably put out stats on how much he ran, the guy was involved in practically ever play. They have to be happy with their new number one goalkeeper.
Speaking of fans, after appointing a new manager and winning the Supercoppa, the Curva Sud decided to return to supporting the team again. They had been protesting for longer than I can remember in various ways, most recently silent protests at the stadium and no banners. However, they still sang chants against Cardinale, and the banners were all displayed upside down to protest a sudden change in the way the club sell tickets. Previously, they sold tickets to authorized Milan Clubs in blocks of tickets. Given the investigation of both Curvas over criminal activities that included ticket issues, the club is now selling tickets individually.
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| Conceição had not even been here for two weeks, he is undefeated with a 66% win rate. |
As for Milan, I genuinely do not think this match was nearly as poor as Conceição or anyone else made it out to be. It did serve to demonstrate to the new manager the specific work that needs to be done. But it is not as if our players went to sleep or did not run or hung their heads, especially after bringing the Supercoppa trophy home and showing it to their fans ahead of the match. They fought the entire 90 minutes, shooting relentlessly. It just so happens that, really more because of their performance than ours, Cagliari are our hangover team.
Milan Primavera Are Held To a 1-1 Draw by Atalanta Primavera
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| Celebrating the Paloschi equalizer that earned Milan Primavera the point. |
Saturday was a day of draws, as the Primavera side also drew 1-1 with Atalanta Primavera, the 17th place team in their league. Guidi was missing Liberali, who had a fever, while Maximilian Ibrahimović and Duțu were called up to Milan Futuro this weekend. However, he did recover Ossola, which was important. Atalanta's Simonetto converted a penalty in just the 39th minute, making it 1-0 for the visitors. In the second half, in the 48th minute, Ossola sent a rocket in, only for it to hit the underside of the post, bouncing down and back out, but Paloschi was there to head it in and equalize. 1-1 all. Highlights of the match are available. Milan Primavera currently sit in fourth place in their league.
Torres Defeat Milan Futuro 5-1, Will Bonera Finally Be Sacked?
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| The starting 11 when they still had hope. |
The lunchtime match in Serie C saw Bonera's Milan Futuro be destroyed 5-1 by Torres. By the 32nd minute, they were down 4-0 and had lost Chaka Traorè to injury. Four unanswered goals in the 7th, 8th, 14th, and 32nd minutes from Torres. At home, in front of the Milan Futuro fans. Nava looked completely off, and the defense looked non-existent, Torres just walked through them and scored.
The second half was better, they put up a fight and held out for most of the half. Milan News, apparently trying to brown nose Zlatan, pointed out that there was one bright spot: Maximilian Ibrahimović made his professional debut and got the assist for Magrassi's first Futuro goal in the 86th minute. But of course, Futuro conceded one more goal in stoppage time, so I feel like that dimmed any and all bright spots. You can watch the highlights on the Serie C YouTube channel and decide for yourself if, in fact, there was a bright spot to this humiliation.
At least this match got the media's attention and they are finally talking about Bonera's job. Just kidding. But at least they noticed the severity of the situation. These guys desperately need a real manager with experience to help them with their development. Sitting alone, firmly in 18th position in their group, with only 17 points after 22 matches should be ringing some alarms somewhere.
This post inspired by the music of Garbage's "Fix Me Now"
Serie C Week 23