Monthly Archive: April 2015

The game featured a new look lineup, occurring in the shadow of another Curva Sud protest and a meeting between Berlusconi and Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol in regards to a possible and soon to be completed sale. Suso was not even on the bench, ostensibly due to fatigue, and Antonelli missed out as well, apparently injured. De Sciglio made a return to the starting eleven and Cerci played a kind of center forward or false 9 role while Destro and Pazzini sat on the bench. Early action was all Genoa as the visitors had three corners inside the four minutes, a bit later Niang forced Lopez into making a good save. Cerci headed at Matia Perin for a rare Milan action inside the visitor’s box. A someone soft Menez yellow in the 30th minute meant that the Frenchman would miss the Napoli match on the weekend. Horrible defending including a missed Rami sliding tackle allowed Andrea Bertolacci to run at and easily beat Lopez. An all too common poor half ended 0-1 for the visitors.
Little changed at the start of the second, a Milan half chance missed was followed by Tino Costa doing well to keep the ball well inside the Milan box, he then cut back and found an open M’Baye Niang. Too many Milan players were caught ball watching. Soon after Pazzini replaced Honda. A goal finally arrived after Perin saved well, the ensuing short corner found its way to Mexes outside of the box, his one time shot curled in off crossbar. In the 74th minute Menez was given a second yellow for a foul on Edenilson. Replays showed there was no contact. Perhaps the Brazilian was fouled by Mexes moments before but this was a clearly a wrong yellow by Piero Giacomelli. Having little choice but to go for it De Sciglio was replaced by Destro. Genoa continued to have the better of the chances and Lopez – notably a double save in the 89th minute – saved the team further damage. The hurt was not over however, a Mexes tackle on Juraj Kucka on the top edge of the box was judged to be a penalty and Iago Falque made it 1-3 with the last shot of the game. It was Genoa’s first win at the San Siro since 1957!
More about the match in its match thread.

The line up was tweaked with Pazzini starting up front and Bonaventura moving back to midfield. The first half was one of the most disorganized performances in an already poor season. Nothing resembling cohesion or tactics to be seen. There were no shots on target. Late in the half a goal was disallowed apparently for an Antonelli foul on  Silvan Widmer. The half ended with only that highlight, not that Udinese were great or spectacular either.
Rami replaced an injured Paletta at half time. The inevitable goal arrived, for Udinese of course. A corner was not cleared well and Giampiero Pinzi shot in through a crowd. Suso had Milan’s first shot on goal in the 62nd minute. His reward was to be replaced by Cerci moments later. Moments after Destro replaced Bonaventura Udinese doubled their lead. Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu poked in Guilherme’s cross after Lopez had palmed a shot away. It was impossible to blame one player only and the responsibility lay at everybody’s feet, including Pippo and his arguably wrong substitutions. Milan finally managed to score. Cerci’s high cross found Pazzini’s head and he found the back of the net. It was far too little however.
More about the match in the forum.

In the build up to the game it was briefly feared that Lopez might not make it due to a sprained finger but he did start. Honda made a return but had to start on the bench, as did Destro, as Inzaghi decided to give Suso a start. A minor surprise was Alex taking Paletta’s spot in defence. The best early chance fell to Hernanes as his shot from outside the box was palmed into a corner. Milan appeared lacklustre and barely threatened and often ceded possession easily. Suso forced a Samir Handanovic save in the 20th minute but little else until the half hour mark. Suso’s freekick, after a Gary Medel undeserved yellow for a foul on Abate, ended in the Inter goal but was called back for a questionable offside. The half fizzled out with little passion.
Early in the second Inter had a goal called off correctly for offside. Milan’s possession was improved but lacking a true and recognized striker meant little danger in Inter’s box. Perhaps Destro or Pazzini would need to come on. In the 57th minute Rodrigo Palacio had a chance to give Inter the lead but Lopez managed to collect the ball. Inter started to retake the initiative. A bit later Inter had a case for an Antonelli hand ball in the box but by current interpretations it would have been harsh. In the 70th minute Paletta replaced an injured Alex. Moments later an Inter counter had the ball in the back of the net but it was called back due to a foul. Destro and Cerci came on for Suso and Poli. Lopez made the most important contributions by controlling one good and few not so good chances.
This derby will be most remembered for the disallowed goals and it highlighting the new mediocre status of the Milan teams.
More about the match in its forum thread.

Mid week injury fears were unfounded as both van Ginkel and Bonaventura started. The Curva Sud’s campaign of using the #saveacmilan hashtag on any paper or banner seemed a limited success, all amid growing reports of a team sale nearing. The closest early action came in the 14th minute when van Ginkel forced Emiliano Viviano to palm his shot out for a corner. Milan enjoyed more of the ball. On the other side Samuel Eto’o shot just wide in the 22nd minute. Destro was at the end of a couple of half chances and headers and van Ginkel seemed to be growing in stature. Cerci had a lot of the ball but rarely created more than a half chance and missed a relative easy chance late in the first too. The half ended 0-0.
Right after the restart Sampdoria had a chance from a counter. Soon after an Antonelli cross was not handled properly and the Sampdoria goalie almost handed Milan a chance to take the lead. The game stumbled along with little of note. In the 58th minute shortly after a Sampdoria counter had gone nowhere Samuel Eto’o found Roberto Soriano open behind Mexes, the latter easily scored. Suso came on for Cerci. The visitors seemed improved or Milan seemed to be going in the opposite direction. De Sciglio came on for Abate shortly before the equalizer. Nigel de Jong shot from a corner and his shot was deflected in by Alfred Duncan. The Ghanaian had come on earlier for the visitors’ goal scorer. The last Milan sub featured Pazzini coming on for the injured Destro. The latter seemed hurt after leg to leg collision. Later Suso hit the far post from a curled shot and the game ended with lots of possession but little else. Getting one point from a team higher in the standings was perhaps a cause for celebration.
More about the game in its forum thread.

The game was almost overshadowed by growing stories of the team being sold to Far Eastern interests. On the pitch there was relative stability however. Bonaventura made a welcome return to the line up but the injury news of the week was Honda’s sprained ankle. The injury would keep the Japanese international out for a few weeks. A poor start to the match didn’t provide much hope. Franco Vazquez missed an unmissable chance to give Palermo the lead but Milan netted first via a lucky or fluke goal off of Cerci, a van Ginkel cross was diverted in by the winger. There were cases for a penalty and a handball on each side but the half time score remained 0-1.
More very close calls followed in the second half, Destro barely offside in one instance. The hosts got the tying goal, Paletta’s trailing leg brought down Andrea Belotti. Paulo Dybala converted the penalty. A bit later Suso made a first Serie A appearance in place of Cerci. As fears grew that more dropped points were coming Menez ran and beat all of Palermo’s defense for the winning goal. The performance was never noteworthy but the three points very welcome.
More about the match in its match thread.