People talk about how "It's not the journey, but the destination." And I can only assume that Milan took that as a personal challenge at the Via del Mare on Saturday. Because the journey was like having your heart ripped out of your chest, stomped on, run through a meat grinder, then forcefully reformed, shoved back into your chest cavity, and finally haphazardly reattached at full time. (Obviously, I watched the whole thing, how could I not?) After going down 2-nil to the 16th place team, an own goal, a penalty, and finally a goal from the run of play dragged us back to get the 3-2 win over Lecce. Kind of like everything going on at the club right now, it was painful as hell, but eventually we got the three points. After three brutal consecutive losses, finally, at least it was not the journey, but the destination.
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| It took until he 81st minute, but we got there. |
The journey began immediately, as Santiago Gimenez scored a goal from a Theo Hernández assist in the very first minute, but after a VAR review using Semi-automaed Offside Technology (SAOT,) it was disallowed for offside, That was a bummer, but felt worse when Krstović scored for Lecce in just the seventh minute. 1-0 Lecce. To put that goal into perspective, Lecce ha not scored a single goal in their previous four matches. However, Milan are not that team anymore, the one that crumbles.
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| Santi Gimenez thought he had opened the scoring, but VAR and SAOT said otherwise. |
Immediately, at the other end, Musah had a shot saved. And in just the 15th minute, Gabbia scored a header from a set piece to celebrate his 100th appearance for Milan. However, you guessed it, the VAR review used SAOT to determine that that one was also offside, so it was also disallowed. 15 minutes, three goals, but only one stood, and it was for Lecce.
Krstović continued to terrorize the Milan defense when he hit the post in the 21st minute. Pierotti also had a shot that was just wide two minutes later. The rest of the first half was characterized by Santiago Gimenez giving Lecce's defense and Falcone especially nightmares, although not managing to get the goal, while Sportiello was called into action once.
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| Gabbia also had a goal disallowed for offside, all in the first 15 minutes. |
However, the football was not pretty. Milan's play was disjointed and their passes easily disrupted by the 16th place side. I will never understand why Conceição fielded Bondo and Musah as the midfield pairing, as the first was making his Milan debut and the latter just always needs someone to balance out his unbridled desire to attack. Neither of them helped defensively whatsoever, and while people complained about the center backs in this match, once again, they were left completely exposed.
Fofana has not been as solid as he originally was in recent matches, but he at least brings strength and confidence to the midfield. However, none of these three seem to have enough defensive sense to provide the protection our defense needs in front of them. After four full transfer windows, this management still have failed to sign a defensive midfielder, but sold Tonali and have now allowed Bennacer to leave.
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| Happy for Bondo's debut, but this starting lineup was not it. |
Kyle Walker has helped a lot on the right, but he cannot be everywhere, and although Theo had a great match as captain, we still need central defenders to absorb the pressure and make those important interceptions and tackles so our two center backs are not left covering most of an entire half of the pitch. Let's not forget that both Pavlović and Maignan were missing in this one, and Sportiello does not offer the same confidence or leadership from the back.
Conceição was shown a yellow card for dissent near the end of the first half, but insisted he barely protested at all. After a disappointing half, he started the second half by bringing Leão on for Álex Jiménez. A few minutes in, Santiago Gimenez was attacking the goal again, as he was on the ground, actually, and he hit the post. That was followed by both Thiaw and Musah with headers that went over.
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| Santiago had at least half or more of Milan's shots on target, he was hungry. |
And just when it seemed that Milan were closing in on a goal, in the 59th, the Montenegrin Krstović scored again. 2-0 Lecce. Conceição reacted with substitutions, sending Tammy Abraham and João Félix on for Santiago Gimenez and Bondo. Within five minutes, a João Félix shot was turned into the goal by Gallo, an own goal for Lecce. So now it was 2-1 Lecce, and Milan were finally on the scoreboard, albeit haphazardly.
A few minutes later, Pulisic was fouled in the box by Baschirotto, and Doveri immediately awarded the obvious penalty. Pulisic stepped up and converted it. Now, suddenly, it was even, 2-2 all. Notably, mentally, this was Pulisic's first penalty since he had his very first penalty saved ever in his career. So scoring this was huge for him personally as well.
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| João Félix knew the goal was not his, but he also knew there was no time to spare. |
In the 75th minute, Conceição, knowing he still needed a goal, subbed Sottil and Fofana on for Musah and Walker. Fofana nearly made him immediately regret that decision with a dangerous challenge on Danilo Veiga. Sottil, on the other hand, had a shot saved in the 79th minute, and Leão also had a shot saved a minute later.
Finally, in the 81st minute, Leão sent in a beautiful cross, and Pulisic scored. 3-2 Milan. The Milan players were ecstatic, they had come back from 2-0, and now were in the lead. After three straight losses, and with the media reporting that Conceição could be sacked with a loss at the Via del Mare, this win meant more than most. This was also only Pulisic's second brace, and also positioned him as the Serie A player involved with the most goals since his arrival, with 20 goals and 14 assists. He was obviously voted Milan's MVP as well.
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| Captain America to save the day with a brace. |
Former Milan manager Giampaolo released the Rebić after the goal, but the beloved former Milan player was too late to save his Lecce side. It must have been strange for him, having lifted the Scudetto with Milan just two and a half short years ago, and there were only three Milan players left on the pitch that he had played with: Theo, Leão, and Gabbia.
Lecce did everything in their power to take the match back, and Tammy Abraham was even shown a yellow card for fouling Guilbert in the process. However, when the final whistle blew, the score was still Lecce 2, Milan 3. Notably, it was Milan's 1500th victory in Serie A, only the third team to accomplish this feat. A massive victory over what some might consider a minnow side, but important for Milan in their confidence and to perhaps get a slight reprieve in the perpetual hounding from the media as well.
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| Celebrating Leão's perfect assist, but more importantly the winning goal. |
This was hardly the first time Milan struggled like this at the Via del Mare, or even made a comeback like this. All the way back in October of 2011, Milan were down 3-0, and then scored four goals, including a Kevin Prince Boateng hat trick, to win Lecce 3, Milan 4. In January of 2023, Pioli's side came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 to Lecce. And the following season, in November of 2023, Milan were actually leading 2-0, and they allowed Lecce to come back, scoring two goals for a final score of 2-2 at the Via del Mare.
Of course, the Curva Sud showed up unfashionably late again (intentionally,) they probably missed both of the disallowed goals, and increased their chants to "Get the sh*t out of our Milan." It's really difficult to imagine why our players struggle so much, with a stadium full of mainly Lecce supporters, and the few Milan fans there chanting against them like that.
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| Reminders of a previous management, who did correct their error in time in 2019... |
And if you did not understand that sarcasm, perhaps you will understand the difficulty of having every major news outlet not only assume that Conceição will not be here next season, but convincingly discussing who his replacements will be ad nauseum. Then, on the day of the match, reporting that he could be sacked as early as after this match, depending upon the result. This was literally the man's first full week to train with the team. He has managed as many matches in two months as Pioli did in his first four months. Does no one else see how pathetic this is?
Then there are all the reports about management, who seem to be at war with one another, going behind each other's backs to gain favor with Cardinale, and who cannot agree on who the next Sporting Director should be, let alone who gets to choose the director. Vicious rumors, too, about Moncada, who is the current Technical Director. And while they deserve the chaos they bring upon themselves, they have no concept of how much their chaos has affected the team and the results, at every level.
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| Probably hard to greet fans who don't support you and actually chant against you... |
Only time will tell what the destination is for Milan this season, because things don't look the greatest right now. But the journey to date has been hell, and it did not need to be. They hired a manager who has since received a nine month ban in France at his next job for an unhinged attack on a referee. We knew he was unhinged, he did insane things to our players here. But this management let him stay and destroy the dressing room and morale for seven months.
Then they finally bring in the manager and players in January that they should have brought in last June (but they pushed out important players, midseason, too,) and expect the same results in February as if they had made all the right moves last June. Football does not work that way. If you want to reach your destination, you have to properly plan for the journey.
A 1-1 Primavera Derby Draw Leaves Everything Even
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| Perrucci was on Target to get the point for Milan Primavera. |
The Primavera played to a 1-1 draw with Inter in a Derby that had everything, even a proper brawl at the end. The match took a wrong turn when Longoni gave up a penalty, which he nearly saved, but Inter converted in the 18th to put them up 1-0. However, Milan Primavera battled back, and just two minutes into the second half, Perrucci scored the equalizer to make it 1-1. There are some highlights of the match.
It was reported that after the final whistle, there was a brawl, and Mister Guidi got very angry and was actually sent off, so he will be suspended. This result unfortunately allowed Juventus Primavera to overtake Milan on the table, pushing us down to sixth place, if only by a point. However, next up, Guidi's boys will be focusing on the Coppa Italia Primavera Semifinals midweek.
Oddo Gets His First Point vs. Perugia, But Milan Futuro Fall on the Table
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| A goalless draw, but one that had consequences for Milan Futuro. |
Any Milan Futuro match that does not end in a loss seems to be worth celebrating somehow. Unfortunately, we are nearing the end of the season, and other teams are coming up with results to avoid relegation. So, Oddo's side ended with a 0-0 draw with Perugia, despite some exciting chances and goal line clearances from both sides. Also, Futuro received zero cards in that match. That may be a first this season. (Perugia were shown two yellows.) To watch highlights of the match, check out the Serie C YouTube channel. However, with other results, Milan Futuro are now in 19th place, one of three teams tied for the bottom spot, all on 23 points. So basically, we are dead last, but for goal differential.
All season long, I have been advocating for the club to replace Bonera. With anyone, really. A cardboard cutout manager might have done better. But, as with the first team, the problems come from the top. Having waited far too long, and then chosen a manager who may actually be worse, it is as if they are trying to make this project fail, trying to derail the careers of these young players. Tragically, they will play once again on Tuesday, a quick turn around for them, away to Pineto. For Milan Futuro, it has been a horrific journey and potentially an even worse destination.
Be sure to check out the latest Milan Obsession Podcast
Reviewed by Elaine
on
1:49 AM
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