After losing 1-0 to Juventus last night, AC Milan came away from another head-to-head match against a clear Scudetto contender with nothing but regrets.
Calciomercato.com recall the peculiar circumstances of last night’s game, in which Milan started with their 40-year-old third-choice goalkeeper, was reduced to 10 men, improved, and ultimately lost to a shot that took a significant deflection.
Malick Thiaw’s red card caused Milan to play with a man less for more than half of the game, despite the fact that Juve mostly played second fiddle. Max Allegri possessed the numerical edge, but he had no inclination to alter the match’s tactical strategy.
He wanted to defend and counter, to not take any risk and to prevent danger first, and at the end of the game when his team were passing it around a goal up his frustration boiled over, with the Juve coach ripping off his jacket and tie.
Milan didn’t create lots of clear cut chances before the red card but Szczesny did brilliantly to deny Olivier Giroud’s low angled shot. Aside from Rafael Leao, Pioli’s team were monotonous and predictable against a deep Bianconeri side who looked comfortable watching their hosts pass it around.
As for the red card, Thiaw does everything a defender should not do. He let Moise Kean get in front of him, he allows the ball to go past him and to stop the Italian’s run towards Mirante he grabs him and drags him to the ground.
That forced Christian Pulisic to come off for Pierre Kalulu, who hadn’t played for two months, and Kean had the immediate opportunity to give Juventus the lead which he missed, letting Tomori and Florenzi off the hook.
Pioli countered with Jovic and Krunic and managed to lose the match, while Allegri threw Vlahovic and Cambiaso on to try to win it. According to the study, Yacine Adli was by far the most effective midfielder on the field, so leaving him off was a mistake.
Although it was unfortunate, it might be stated that Krunic’s introduction led to Milan’s second league defeat, and now a response is required in the two crucial games that are yet to come.
Leave a Reply