Amateur errors by the Milan defenders and a host of chances missed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic led to Milan’s demise at the San Siro. The Bianconeri, touted as the underdogs on paper, emerged as winners in this tactical battle. Serie A gets interesting by the hour as Juventus close the gap on Inter Milan to three points.
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There was only one team which looked like winning this encounter. It was AC Milan all the way. Max Allegri, often criticized for his selections, got the combination right this time. At least that’s how it was projected when Pato and Irahimovic where attacking Juventus with full flare. In the first 20 mins this duo, combined with Robinho, created at least three great opportunities. Two missed oppurtunities by Ibrahimovic and the other being a dubious offside call against Pato, when he was through with only Storari to beat, ensured that Milan didn’t capitalize on their early dominance.
With the quality of players at Milan’s disposal, possession play has never been a problem. Their main problem this season has been momentary lapse of concentration and the Rossoneri lose their equilibrium there after. That’s what happened in the 24th minute in this match as well. Abbiati, with a poor short clearance, gave Juventus a chance to take the lead. Unlike their rivals, the Old Lady pounced on the chance with both hands. De Ceglie’s pin-point cross was met by Quagliarella and a well directed header gave the visiting team a lead in the match. Thiago Silva’s replacement Sokratis Papastathoupolus was caught out of position and was unable to cover the Juve striker.
Milan continued to press forward in search of an equalizer and almost found one at the stroke of half time when Pato sent in a beautiful cross to Ibrahimovic in the middle only to see him head the ball straight into Storari, when he could have placed the header anywhere into the open goal.
The second half also started the in the same manner. Milan dominated the initial play and almost equalized through an Ibrahimovic shot only to see Melo heading away the strike. Milan’s impotency in defence was portrayed again in the 65th minute when Antonini was unable to clear an aerial ball only to see Sissoko in an one on one situation with Abbiati. He fumbled and stumbled, but somehow recovered and had the legendary Del Piero to his rescue. Il Pinturicchio struck a close ranger screamer and Abbiati had no chance to prevent Juventus from doubling their lead. With this Del Piero created a new milestone by becoming the highest goal scorer for Juventus in Serie A history. He overtook Giampiero Boniperti with his 179th goal in Serie A competitions.
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The Rossoneri gave it their all but were not able to find goals. The heads were dropping. The manager was clueless and just when the fans were about to get up, Antonini, the most hard working of the current lot, sent in a cross towards the middle. Ibrahimovic with all his strength nullified Pepe and then wisely directed his header past Storari to make it 1-2. With 10 minutes to go, this gave Milan a slight hope to savour 1 point from this lost cause. Abate gave it a last shot with a grounded ball across the box from the right. It went past Ibrahimovic but Robinho was out wide on the left. All he could manage was a high cross back to Abate and that was it for the Rossoneri.
Juventus can call themselves lucky as they were not the best side on the pitch. Chiellini’s omission just before the start of the match didn’t help either, as he has absorbed the threat posed by Ibrahimovic in their previous encounters. He was not missed because Ibrahimovic anyway could not hit the water whenever he fell off the boat. The Old Lady was desperately looking for answers in the absence of the injured Iaquinta and Quagliarella filled in his shoes like a dream and now he opens up a lot of options to his manager. Melo controlled most part of the midfield battle and was instrumental in all the counter attacks that Juventus banked upon throughout the match.
Milan, after finding a solution to their midfield woes by benching Seedorf, have to deal with the defensive problems now. Thiago Silva’s absence was hard felt as Sokratis, though strong, was found wanting as far as positioning is concerned. Though Rino has earned his spot in the side by his ever enthusiastic performances, he tends to push forward a lot. Due to this Pirlo lacks the support and he is left to do the job of breaking play. Allegri still has to figure out a proper formation for the attacking trident as Pato is being forced to play wide whereas he would do a better job playing close to Ibra.
This leaves the league table in an interesting position. Inter is second after edging out Genoa. Milan is next, one point behind Inter. Juventus has closed in the gap by moving into the fourth spot, just 2 points short of the Rossoneri. Off course Lazio is still at the summit, with a match to go against Palermo, and it would open up the Scudetto if they manages to drop points tomorrow.
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TheHardTackle’s Player of the Match:
Fabio Quagliarella (Juventus)
Felipe Melo would have been our choice but he misses out on the honor because of being so mellow(sic). All his antics in order to gain a spot kick or even for that matter killing time does not depict good sportsmanship. Quagliarella was the difference between the two titans today. His finishing and vision was top notch. Even though he didn’t get as many chances as his opposite counterpart, yet he made most of what he got by scoring a goal in the first half and then played a major part in the second goal by finding Sissoko in the box.
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TheHardTackle’s Referee Report Card:
Gianluca Rocchi : Grade – C
The referee, including the linesman, crumbled under the pressure of a big match. The offside call in the start of the match against Pato was dicey and it could have changed the course of the match had Milan scored first.
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Match Statistics:
AC Milan 1-2 Juventus
Venue: San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 80,000
AC Milan line-up: Abbiati, Bonera(Abate 35′), Nesta, Sokratis, Antonini, Boateng(Seedorf 70′), Pirlo, Gattusso, Pato(Inzaghi 75′), Robinho, Ibrahimovic
Manager: Massimiliano Allegri
Cautions: Boateng(39′), Pirlo(45′)
Sent Off: None
Scorers: Ibrahimovic(82′)
Juventus line-up: Storari; Legrottaglie, Bonucci, De Ceglie(Pepe 41′), Motta, Martinez(Sissoko 56′), Felipe Melo, Aquilani , Marchisio, Del Piero(Amauri 86′), Quagliarella
Manager: Luigi Delniri
Cautions: Melo(36′), Pepe(52′)
Sent Off: None
Scorers: Quagliarella(24′), Del Piero(65′)