Milan 1, Verona 1: Hold On

Going into this match, we knew it would be very difficult. We were missing seven players to illness, injury, or suspension. And really, Ibrahimovic counts as more than one of those players, so we were already climbing an uphill battle. People discount Verona, but they came into this match only two points behind us, so it was always going to be tough. Milan were lucky to hold on.

Brilliance from a set piece

Milan started by being pinned back by Verona, with a great save by Gigio in the fourth minute, then the goal by Faraoni in the 13th minute. 1-0 Verona. That seemed to be the wake-up call that Milan needed, though, and they fought back, relentlessly attacking Silvestri and his Borini-esque bleached hair.

Much to the disappointment of the Calhanoglu haters, he scored from a free kick in the 29th minute, making it three goals in two games for him. 1-1 all. Of course, he can do nothing right for Milan fans, so the fact that he’s got five goals on the season, one less than our leading scorer, makes no difference. Some fans appreciated his goal, though, it's been a while since he scored from a set piece.

Our first look at the young Belgian

Nothing else that Milan could do could make a difference, either. With 26 shots, only seven were on target, and although we managed 60 percent possession, that familiar lack of finishing is what doomed us to sharing a point. Even when Amrabat was sent off in the 68th minute for a nasty foul on Castillejo, which required a VAR review, Milan couldn’t take advantage of having an extra man for the last twenty minutes.

Pioli’s subs were spot on, great timing, and the best he had, given his much-depleted squad. Paqueta got almost 30 minutes, then Saelemaekers got to make his Milan debut in the 77th minute. Both sides hit the post at least once, there were a few chances for Verona, but mostly Milan pinned them back after Verona went down to ten men. Borini was as ineffective against us as he was for us, even though he only got twenty minutes.

The future of Milan?

The most notable moment of this match came in the third minute of stoppage time: Daniel Maldini made his Milan debut. Although he was only on the pitch for two minutes, and despite the fact that Milan could not produce the three points he was worthy of, the momentous occasion that was the third Maldini to wear the Milan shirt was by far the best thing to take from this match. Let’s hope that it was just the first of many glorious appearances for the club.

The match fell short of expectations, but expectations needed to be lowered with so many players missing. We can only look forward to the massive match ahead of us next week in the Derby, and hope that most everyone recovers and are ready to fight back. For today, it was all we could do to hold on.

This post inspired by the music of X Ambassadors’ “Unsteady”

Our next match is

Serie A Week 23

il Derby della Madonnina

Inter vs. AC Milan

Sunday, February 9 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)