The Derby della Madonnina always has a fiery atmosphere, but the ambience for this one began long before Sunday. A tough loss in the Champions League midweek and some desperation ahead of the closing of the transfer window, as well as whatever else was going on mentally and emotionally behind the scenes turned into a giant emotional storm for Milan. But even missing important players to injury/suspension/transfers, Conceição prepared this team to beat the odds. Conceding an unfortunate stoppage time led to the 1-1 draw with Inter. But for once, fortune favored Milan overall, and they salvaged a point by weathering the storm.
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| The emotions of the Derby. |
Inter started the match confidently. Dimarco scored a goal in just the seventh minute, but it was disallowed for an obvious offside call. They were spared a penalty call against them when Pavard took down Leão in the box, because Leão was also offside. Dumfries found out what kind of night it was going to be for him when he was whistled for fouling Theo shortly thereafter. Musah was done dirty by the Turkish Traitor™, who fouled our player and dove, and poor Musah got whistle for the foul. Some people never change.
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| Milan players got into Inter players' heads quickly. And often. |
In the 33rd minute, Lautaro Martínez thought he had scored. However that goal, too, was called back for being offside. The confidence they started with was quickly fading to frustration. They created a couple of chances, and then in the 38th, Reijnders had a great shot that forced Sommers into a big save. Shortly thereafter, Maignan came way out, showing his footwork confidently to clear a ball. I love our goalkeeper. He does things that if other keepers tried, I would panic, but with him, it's just badass.
Just before halftime, de Vrij hit below the belt. As in he attempted to kick the ball, his leg went between Tomori's on the follow through, and there was what appeared to be a very painful collision. Poor Tomori. But he recovered and soldiered on like the warrior he is. And his teammates got revenge just two minutes later. Theo linked up with Leão, whose shot Sommer pushed away, but Reijnders was there to punish him. 1-0 Milan. The stadium erupted, and the team, who had been through so much this week, celebrated emphatically. This also put him in good company, as he became the fifth Dutch player to have scored at least 10 goals in Serie A for Milan, too, according to OptaPaolo.
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| A Dutch Master. |
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| Schadenfreude detail of Reijnders' goal. |
This match was also the debut for out new right back, Kyle Walker. The Inter players were not happy to meet him. He slotted right in and was very strong defensively, even giving instructions and leadership to the other Milan players. At one point, I thought Dimarco might start crying, because he was not used to being shut down so well. That was absolutely delicious, and was a little bit of salve in the gaping wound of the sacrifice made of Calabria, supposedly to justify Walker's signing. It still does not justify his exit or the manner of his exit, but it did help me to stop crying briefly to enjoy some Schadenfreude.
At the half, Conceição subbed Jiménez on for Bennacer. Some questioned about this sub, and I understand that to a degree. While Bennacer is legendary, what Jiménez brought to the game was very enjoyable to watch, and leaving Musah on was important just for his physicality alone. Nonetheless, Lautaro Martínez came back from the dressing room angry, and forced Maignan into a big save right away. But it was Maignan. So we were fine.
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| Walker introduced himself at the San Siro. |
In the 50th minute, the aforementioned 19 year-old Jiménez just barreled into Lautaro Martínez and bowled him over, throwing his hands up in innocence. The 27 year-old Argentinian was not appreciative of his youthful zeal, but I thought it was amazing. And the referee, Chiffi, didn't even card him for it, either. Delicious. Bastoni was not as lucky when he three minutes later, he was forced into a technical foul on Leão, and earned himself the first yellow card of the game. The Derby atmosphere was heating up, and all the calls were going against Inter. This had never happened before in my memory. Ever. Inter's new American owners must have cut funding to the referees.
A few minutes later, de Vrij had a header deflected wide, then Dumfries deflected Theo's shot wide at the other end. Back at the other end, Dimarco was running down the wing, thinking he was going to wreak havoc or something, and Walker perfectly tackled him and sent him flying, it was a thing of beauty. And even though he got up and eventually took a shot, it was weak and easily saved, because he was still dazed as if he had been hit like a train. This was just getting better every minute.
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| Walker introduced himself to Dimarco. |
Dumfries thought he was in the same class as Walker or something, and he fouled his compatriot, Reijnders, hard. Boom. Yellow card. This was like a dream come true. Two yellow cards for Inter, none for Milan. And we were even ahead, somehow. I could not wait to watch the Interisti tears flowing. And if they weren't already, they started after a third disallowed goal.
Lautaro Martínez scored, but Dumfries had fouled Theo Hernández in the buildup to the goal, so with the confirmation from a VAR review, the goal was disallowed. Lautaro Martínez did get frustrated enough to shove Tomori down right after the goal was called off, and he got a long lecture from Chiffi, nothing more. But it was enough that Theo was winning every single call in the Theo-Dumfries Derby. That man deserved something to go well for him this season. (Plus it was just great entertainment.)
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| When the goal post didn't save it, Maignan did. |
Like a gift that keeps on giving, the chances that Inter were creating just got closer and yet more futile. Bisseck's header from a corner hit the post. Luscious. There was a foul from Bisseck on Tammy Abraham in the box in the 70th minute that might have been a penalty on another referee's watch, but I'm not an Interisti, so I'm not going to cry about it.
The one The Other Inzaghi™ and Interisti everywhere are crying about was in the 73rd minute. Pavlović was trying to catch Marcus the Molester Thuram™ and there was some slight contact in the box, but Theo came sliding in for the tackle and got the ball. Mr. Molester was positioned between them and fell, so I get why it looked bad, but I also understand why VAR did not intervene, because neither Pavlović nor Theo did enough to warrant a penalty. The Interisti tears could provide water for an entire country, but the whining is just an intolerable unintelligent din. But even that whining was answered with a brilliant answer from Conceição, who said, "Simone talks about what he has to talk about." Yes, Mister. I am so here for this.
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| Watch your hands, Marcus the Molester™. |
Reijnders had a shot saved. Mkhitaryan had a shot that went wide. Conceição subbed on Camarda and Terracciano for Tammy Abraham and Musah in the 78th minute. Walker kicked the ball into Lautaro Martínez so it would go out of bounds for a Milan throw in, and he did not hold back, either. That probably left a bruise. Inter's number ten was not having fun. But I was. And then, from yet another corner, Marcus the Molester Thuram™ hit the post. Again. I think this is where I actually let myself get my hopes up for a win.
But in the 85th minute, Conceição made two more substitutions, and our bench is just not deep enough. (So it was really odd that up to this point, management had traded out two starters for two new signings this window, instead of improving our bench.) Conceição pulled off both Pulisic and Leão and subbed on Chukwueze and Gabbia. Tactically, it could have worked. But unfortunately, it was just a little too much.
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| Camarda already making Inter players cry. |
In the 89th minute Camarda came so close to almost getting his first Serie A goal again, which would have been amazing, in the home Derby. But Frattesi was pulling on him, and it went over. In the 91st minute, Dumfries' header hit the post. it was the third time Inter hit that post, Milan should have looked into signing the post before the transfer window closed. Maignan made a big save on Dumfries a minute later, and it looked like our keeper may have been injured in the process, but he seemed to be okay.
Finally, in the dying minutes, de Vrij managed to score the equalizer. 1-1 all. Both goals for each side from Dutch players, ironically, too Conceição's subs had made disastrous errors, and the 92 minutes before that were all discounted in a single moment. It was heartbreaking, because we were so close to our third consecutive Derby win after the Supercoppa last month and the win in September. It would have been so exquisite. And such an incredibly healing win, too, after this past week of chaos at the club.
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| Conceição deserves so much credit for rallying the troops amidst this chaos. |
But it also did not hurt as much as it normally would have, all things considered. (Don't get me wrong, Inter crying over having three goals disallowed, hitting the post three times, and complaining about a non-penalty call was delicious Schadenfreude that brought joy to my whole weekend.) It still sucks to be Inter. It was even funny to watch Inter celebrating as if they had won the Scudetto when they had actually only managed to salvage a point.
That might have been the biggest compliment to Conceiçao and to the team, too. Inter had all their players, with better depth than us, and much better form, without a backstabbing, inept management trying to destroy the club from within. Meanwhile, Milan just lost their captain, Spain's captain, and had a key player suspended, as well as starters injured. So, even though the Milan players were disappointed, I was proud of them simply for weathering the storm.
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| Big Derby Energy. |
Our Primavera with a Big Win 3-1 over Bologna Primavera
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| Celebrating getting back to winning ways. |
Saturday got off to a great start with a 3-1 victory over Bologna for our Milan Primavera. Liberali opened up the scoring in just the 15th minute. Bologna scored an equalizer in the 43rd minute, so it was 1-1 at halftime. But Comotto scored in the 61st, then Scotti scored again two minutes later to guarantee a win. Brief highlights are available. This put the Primavera alone in fifth place, above Juventus on the table ahead of their Coppa Italia Primavera Quarterfinal match on Wednesday.
Milan Futuro Pull Off a 2-1 Win Away to SPAL, Only their Fourth in Serie C This Year
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| The trouble with a win is that he's wtill there. |
With reports that Bonera's job was dependent upon this match after an abysmal showing, his team came through for him with a 2-1 away win over SPAL. Magrassi scored just before halftime, but SPAL equalized in the 48th minute. Another new signing, Quirini, scored the winning goal in the 61st to make it 2-1 for Milan Futuro. What a great way to score his first goal for the team. The highlights are available on the Serie C YouTube Channel. As this was only the team's fourth win all season, and they are sill in 18th place, it is difficult to know if Bonera will survive the chopping block now. But it was nice to have the win, their first since early December.
Serie C Week 26
Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:30 AM
Rating:
