Chievo Milan Post Game Comments

here is a report from www.channel4.com

Chievo 0 - 1 Milan
Crespo 50 (M)
Stadio Bentegodi

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The Rossoneri have the opportunity to close in on leaders Juventus this weekend with the Derby d'Italia, but first they faced a tricky trip to the Stadio Bentegodi. Once again, Hernan Crespo was the only healthy striker available as Andriy Shevchenko, Jon Dahl Tomasson and Pippo Inzaghi are out injured. The Argentine has scored three goals in his last games between the Coppa Italia and Champions' League, so he was hoping to break his Serie A duck as well.

Chievo also had problems upfront, as Amauri is suspended, Federico Cossato and Sergio Pellissier struggling with minor injuries, but the hitman was able to start. It was a particularly special occasion for Coach Mario Beretta - a lifelong Milan fan.

The first shot on goal came after six minutes when Kaka's piledriver was smothered on the second attempt by Luca Marchegiani, then Manuel Rui Costa's effort was saved and Massimo Ambrosini nodded Marcos Cafu's cross wide.

Chievo were also dangerous when crucial challenges from Alessandro Nesta and Massimo Ambrosini were required on Cossato and Matteo Brighi inside the area.

It was a more open game as the first half wore on, as Crespo's volley was just wide, then Roberto Baronio's curling free kick went round the wall and past Dida, but the Milan goalkeeper was saved by the woodwork.

The Flying Donkeys hit the frame of the goal for the second time in a couple of minutes with Simone Tiribocchi's fierce strike after Cossato's smart lay-off.

Marchegiani did well to stop Rui Costa's deflected effort, then Seedorf sprung the offside trap on Kaka's fine pass and the veteran goalkeeper fingertipped it round the post from eight yards.

Cossato attempted to backheel Marco Malago's cross into the net, but couldn't quite get himself prepared in time.

Crespo has well and truly broken through his crisis, scoring his first Serie A goal with a Milan jersey moments after the restart. He combined with Kaka' and a lucky deflection left him free to sweep home from just inside the box.

The former Chelsea star had been bitterly criticised since his summer move, but has now scored in all three competitions over the last seven days.

Dida performed a magnificent save on Baronio's free kick, as it took a massive deflection off Seedorf and the Brazilian did well to change direction mid-air.

The goalkeeper was again decisive on Baronio's set-piece, then Mandelli's sliding tackle stopped Crespo turning in Kaka's low cross.


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Chievo: Marchegiani; Moro, Mandelli, D'Anna, Lanna; Semioli, Baronio (Zanchetta 80), Brighi, Malagò (Luciano 72); Tiribocchi (Pellissier 57), Cossato

Milan: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze; Dhorasoo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (Gattuso 78); Rui Costa, Kakà; Crespo

Ref: Collina


the match was not on in Ireland only inter juve on this weekend (Forza Inter for one night only) so anyone who actually saw the match a brief summary and objective player ratings please.

Guys Dida has made the best save of the whole Serie a

It's something incredible, you all must see..

Baronio's shoot was deflected by a Milan defender, Dida was going to one side of the goal, then he suddenly dived in the opposite side to save the ball with one and..it was practically inside

UN-BE-LIE-VA-BLE SAVE

yah that save was awesome. wait till you see it in the highlights. he made two spectacular saves in this game.

my player ratings

Dida (9/10) - two spectacular saves and came out to pick all the crosses. never was out of place.

Cafu (6.5/10) - pacy as always but occassionally missing in defence.

Nesta(6.5/10) - two bad slips almost cost milan a goal. he recovered well to prevent a SURE goal after his first slip. had he not, his rating would have been much lower. also cased a professional foul to earn a yellow. maldini and nesta have a superb technical understanding of each other.

Maldini(6.5/10)- solid as always. nothing exceptional. no big mistakes. ran ahead of nesta to make sure nesta wouldn't get a red when he committed the professional foul.

Kaladze(6/10) - still a bit shaky but the more he plays the better. almost scored a goal.

Dhorasoo(8/10) - Continues to impress fans and detractors alike. beautiful close control skills, perfect crosses and able to thread passes to the forwards skillfully. needs a few more games to get the hang of the big league. watch out for this guy.

Ambrosini(7/10) - played to his strengths and kept a lock on milan midfield. reminds me of albertini back in the day.

Seedorf (6.5/10)
Gattuso 78 (unrated)

Rui Costa(8/10) - again showing that he is not a has-been. the more he plays, the better he gets. carlo should ignore silvio and play him alongside kaka. his style is similar to kaka's so they add a dimension to each other's play.

Kakà(7.5/10) - his runs can only be stopped by crowding him out and this time the crowd-out technique only caused the ball to ricochet to crespo and crespo scored.

Crespo (8/10) - really finding his best form again. 4 goals in 3 games. scores his first serie A goal. really helping ease the pressure on sheva. now, i await to see the sheva - crespo combo.

Pirlo (unrated)

dida is a great keeper looking forward to seeing that save tonight, the save ill always remember from him was from zalayeta against juve 2 seasons ago a match i was at. i was sure it eas going in but going the wrong way he still managed to save it

thanks for the ratings nadir

other amazing dida saves:

- Bayern-Monaco on Ballack
-milan-juve Nedved header on corner kick
- the same match on Zalayeta

*the best* Milan-Ajax last minutes on Van der Vaart AMAZING

I just want to point out that our sub players are improving now... Dhorasoo, Crespo and Ambrosini played very well..
ROCK ON, GUYS!!!



FORZA MILAN!!!

special mention for Kakà

what an amazing player he is! i can say i wanted him signed since so many motnhs before he came , joined in his signing champaign by Jim_UK and i must tell that, as we IRONICALLY say in Italy, i could be gay for Kakà

All in all, Milan played a pretty good match and there was a lot of movement on the field. I do not like to "rate" players with arbitrary numbers, but it is clear that Dida saved the day and was sensational.

No one performed badly, but the defense was shaky at times and Chievo has their opportunities. Midfield was good, with Dhorasso an intelligent and hard working little devil, Rui Costa the traffic director, and Kaka always inspired. Crespo was in the right place when needed, and he is regaining his confidence.

May be not "Grande Milan" but "Bene Milan" today.

Also the blond lady in the RAI "Giostra Del Gol" program looks great and is an inspiration to all of us who have to wake up at 5.30 a.m. to watch the game. When this young woman says "wuwuwu" (for www) you know there is a God somewhere looking for football fans.

Originally Posted by Josh

Also the blond lady in the RAI "Giostra Del Gol" program looks great and is an inspiration to all of us who have to wake up at 5.30 a.m. to watch the game. When this young woman says "wuwuwu" (for www) you know there is a God somewhere looking for football fans.

Paola Ferrari?

Very good performance by Milan today with some of our players like Dhorasoo, Kaka, Ambro, and above all Dida made a great impression. In the first half, for the last 15-20mins, our defence looked a bit out of sorts but this was the result of the rest of the team - midfield and attack - being taken out of the game by Chievo. This resulted in Dida and the other 4 in defence taking all the heavy blows. In the second part Milan played much much better and our midfielders all contributed immeansely for that - Ambro was the backbone along with Dhorasoo, who proved a vital link between defence and attack, Rui with his great ball-possession skills although a bit slow at times for Kaka's thundering counter attacks, and of course the Brazilian wonder kid who was his usual last-season self today. Only Seedorf seemed a bit out of sorts today but still had a good game. Crespo was not brilliant but was almost always on the right spot and this was how the goal came. Very good and fruitful game for him too.

ON A SIDE NOTE: Have you checked out the official Milan site? This is some rediculous cr_ap by the Milan webmaster. Not sure who is responsible for this site but it is by far the worst and crappiest there is out there.

Overall, did Milan play as well as they did in their second half against Shakhtar?

about these ratings Nesta must get 5 and Kaladze the same - Nesta did rarely manage to pass to a Milan player within 10 meters and his marking was abit hopeless. Kaladze looked so so slow on the pitch .. also had problems

Dhorasoo along with Ambro the best on the field ... and yes .. of course also Dida

I'm glad we win the game against chievo altho it is only one goal
wining and get 3 points is most important but we need to play
better in the next game. glad dida is back to his good performs
again


Froza Milan

i think milan played a very good match. dhorasoo, rui costa and of course dida were the best for me! the defence looked sometimes not very good. i'm also very happy about crespo. he is now in very good form! i hope so that inter will tonight!!

Never thought I would ever say it but I LOVE Inter Merda. Wow, they drew Juve 2-2 after trailing 0-2 15mins before the final whistle. The game was virtually in a dead-end for Juve had scored twice and were slowing down proceedings and Inter looked gloomy and disorganized. But then, after Vieri and Recoba came on, Inter was up and running again and scored twice in a matter of minutes. Nice to see Juve waste a 2 goal lead. It is a 4-point gap now. As for Inter they can kiss the title goodbye.