Without ten players, the Devil beats the Giallorossi with goals from Giroud (penalty), Messias and Leao (Abraham scores for Mou’s men). Ibra missed a penalty, Karsdorp and Mancini were sent off in the second half
More than the befana, a fairy must have passed through Milanello with a magic wand that returned to Milan in one go all that had made him sob in the last two months: game, spirit, points, self-esteem. The Devil, already victorious at the Olimpico, crashes Roma also at San Siro and starts 2022 showing his muscles and swelling his chest. Everyone warned, even those who did not play like Inter, who now find themselves in the wake of the Rossoneri separated by a -1 that scratches a good dose of chili on the derby scheduled in exactly one month. It ends 3-1 (Giroud on a penalty, Messias, Abraham, Leao) but it could have been something broader, on both sides, if we think that Milan took two bars and missed a penalty (Ibra), while Maignan made the phenomenon at least three times. A victory that strengthens a team without ten players between injuries, Covid and the African Cup. A Milan once again stronger than the emergency, in which he often loves to get excited. Coal then is everything for Mourinho’s team, which in practice only played the first twenty minutes of the second half and, after the illusory victory with Atalanta, plunged back into the long-standing problems against top-level opponents. Many, too many mistakes in all areas of the pitch and a late reaction left no way out in front of such a fierce Milan.
The choices
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Among the things that Pioli was asking most strongly in 2022 there was at least some peace in the medical field. But the new year began as the old one ended: an endless list of unavailable, an even more surreal situation if we consider that several injured players are back. A sort of interminable turnover of the infirmary. And so, if on the one hand there are the welcome returns of Ibra, Rebic and Leao, on the other hand in the last three days Tatarusanu, Castillejo, and especially Calabria (which at the end of December had returned to work in a group) have disappeared from the scene, Tomori and Romagnoli. The club has made Covid official only for the goalkeeper, maintaining privacy for the other names, but here the substance matters more than the form: Pioli had to invent defense again, deploying Kalulu and Cage at the center. The Africa Cup has completed the work: in the median, without Kessie and Bennacer, space for Tonali and Krunic. In front of Giroud, assisted by Messias, Diaz and Saelemaekers. For Mourinho a decidedly lighter situation, enlivened by the return of Pellegrini forty days after the last appearance. A 3-5-2 in which the only change compared to the eve’s predictions was the exclusion of Cristante, with Veretout in the center of the median and the entry of Mkhitaryan. In front, Zaniolo and Abraham to challenge the Rossoneri central babies (43 years in two).
Milan short
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Yet Cage and Kalulu got away with it. Of course, granting something and playing not always impeccable, but with a good personality in the face of the technique of Zaniolo and Abraham. The truth is that Milan in the top 45 managed not only to make up for the absences, but also to take possession of the match thanks to an excellent collective interpretation. Logical, having no stars, but not so obvious. It was the Milan of the best times, fierce in pressing and recovering the ball in the other half of the pitch, and quick in moving it from one side of the pitch to the other. In particular, the athletic condition stands out: excellent. Pioli on the eve had made it clear. Rossoneri best in tackling, doubling and second balls, the opposite of a slow, predictable and self-victimized Roma, with technical errors far beyond what is legitimate. In the median in the first half there was practically no match, Tonali and Krunic dried up the lands of Mkhitaryan and Veretout, while Pellegrini tried to slip into no man’s land halfway with the trocar. Movements in which AC Milan, very short and reactive, almost never took the bite, then entrusting the attacking phase to all its interpreters: the drifting of Messias that worried Viña a lot, the holes of Hernandez on the other side, the doors of Giroud with Smalling. Two different approaches visible from the first minutes and in fact it took the Devil only eight to pass. Hernandez flying torpedo and Abraham’s wide arm in the area before Rui Patricio’s super reflex (in spite of back problems): Chiffi’s control on the monitor and penalty, transformed by Giroud. Another nine minutes and another goal, emblematic because it was triggered by an obscene back pass by Ibanez that put Giroud in front of Rui Patricio: post, rebound and Messias in tow in the corner.
Super Mike
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Two slaps that Roma visibly accused and the difference in vivacity and lucidity between the two teams was further accentuated, even if the Giallorossi managed to present themselves a couple of times very dangerously in front of Maignan. First with Zaniolo (Kalulu’s error, French goalkeeper’s foot block) and then with a header by Abraham (sublime reflex of the Rossoneri 16). At 40 ‘Roma shortened with the English, quick and shrewd to divert a right from Pellegrini to the center of the area. Definitely nervous ending of time: Hernandez and Karsdorp’s not very honorable behavior, then a penalty asked in vain by Zaniolo. The recovery, at least in the first twenty minutes, was exactly the same as the first half: Rome hungry, aggressive and lucid, Milan holed up and scared. Apart from a break by Diaz – full crossbar -, the Devil again had to thank super Maignan, effective first on Abraham and then superlative on a hit on the fly by Mkhitaryan. The thrust of Roma began to waver around half time, the inertia subsided and the coup de grace came in the half hour with the expulsion of Karsdorp (second yellow). Milan beat again on the wood – Florenzi’s goal crossing from a free kick – and then the challenge settled definitively on the Rossoneri side with the third goal from Leao (who took over from Saelemaekers), sent in goal by Ibrahimovic. Rui Patricio avoided a worse passive by saving the Swede a penalty in the recovery, but Mancini’s foul on Leao cost Mourinho’s second red of the day. Not very well in view of Juve.
January 6, 2022 (change January 6, 2022 | 22:04)
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