In Greek Mythology, Sisyphus is eternally condemned to pushing a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down every time he reached the top, so he would have to start all over again. Allegri seems to have been similarly condemned. He has managed to struggle and get this team to the top of the league, only to be knocked down by the very bottom. Milan nearly lost this one, but were able to manage a 2-2 draw with 20th place Pisa thanks to a stoppage time goal. Much like the inexplicable loss to newly promoted Cremonese, Milan are caught in Allegri's struggle, the plight of Sisyphus.
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| A winning manager destined to struggle against the newly promoted sides. |
Friday night's struggle began with another brilliant Leão goal from distance to open the scoring. 1-0 Milan. This was his third goal in two matches after his fantastic performance against Fiorentina on Sunday. Of course, after all of the toxic rhetoric about the refereeing in that match, Marotta's friends in the media are claiming this goal was not valid, though VAR confirmed it, while others are pointing out why it is valid. Some things never change.
 Making up for lost time with 3 goals in 2 matches at San Siro. |
A few minutes later, Bartesaghi put an audacious ball in that was either a cross or a shot, not sure, but Šemper was definitely worried enough to come out for it. Ten minutes later, Leão had a decent chance from a Saelemaekers cross, but it was deflected over. Bartesaghi was also taken out by Pisa player, that's kind of how things went. Pisa consistently used fouls as their primary tactic, with 21 fouls called compared to 8 for Milan, and those were just the ones that Zufferli actually whistled.
In the 40th minute, Fofana sent a shot that was saved by Šemper. Right after that, Saelemaekers tackled Bonfanti hard. Zufferli did not make that call, either, and Gilardino was incredibly angry. That was kind of how Milan fans felt for most of the match. Modrić had a shot attempt before halftime as well, but unfortunately, like most of Milan's 20 shots, it was not on target. The match would end with only seven Milan shots on target.
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| From earning his first start, displacing Tomori, to very unlucky handball call, De Winter knows struggle. |
The second half started with a very close attempt from Pisa's Tramoni. Then Gabbia made a nearly costly error, but Maignan had his back and made the save. Pisa were troubling Milan more and more, so in the 57th, when Cuadrado took a shot that hit De Winter's hand, it was another test for referee Zufferli. Even though De Winter's hand was only away from his body because he was keeping Nzola at distance, and his hand was also on the way down. Zufferli called a handball. Penalty for Pisa.
The VAR check, of course, confirmed the penalty, because it was against Milan. And obviously, Cuadrado, one of the most hated players ever, the one for whom the phrase "punchable face" was invented for, took the penalty. And converted it, of course. 1-1 all. At least the goal caused a reaction from Milan.
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| Modrić was awarded Serie A's Player of the Match for yet another incredible performance. |
At the other end, Leão's shot hit the top of the crossbar. A few minutes later, Gabbia had a header saved, then Saelemaekers had a fantastic shot from distance that forced Šemper into an even bigger save. Three excellent efforts within five minutes, yet not able to get that all-important second goal. Then, of course, another reffing controversy. There were possibly more errors made by the referee team than proper calls in this one, I cannot wait to hear what the AIA say about it (depending on whether or not Marotta's check has cleared yet, of course.)
This time, Calabresi fouled Leão in the penalty area. It was a foul, but Zufferli did not call it. After last week's media campaign, Leão did not act as though Calabresi had broken his leg, so Zufferli did not call it. And because it wasn't a gigantic, egregious foul, VAR didn't feel comfortable overturning it as a "clear and obvious error." But it was a penalty. We cannot just change the rules every time journalists change their narrative.
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| Leão can create magic even when defended like a fortress. |
In the 76th, Allegri brought Nkunku on for Santi Gimenez and Athekame on for Bartesaghi. Nkunku had one shot right away that was blocked (as he was being pulled back, of course, but who needs a referee?), but then all but disappeared. Leão was getting frustrated by this point, and he shoved a player down who was trying to restart the ball instead of let the goalkeeper take the goal kick. At least Zufferli was not card-happy. He had lost control of the match though, because Nzola even got under Modrić's skin with a completely unnecessary foul just walking by as Modrić was trying to set up to restart play.
Athekame made his mark right away with a nasty little tackle on Idrissa Touré, earning Milan's only yellow card of the match. But that was not all. He also fell asleep defensively on Nzola's goal. Which was another controversy. VAR did review it, but apparently only to check if Nzola was offside. Because they missed an insane rugby-style tackle by Moreo on Gabbia that took him out completely on the build-up to the goal that 100% should have invalidated the goal. But this was choose-your-own-adventure style refereeing for Zufferli, apparently, not "follow the Laws of the Game." So the goal stood. 2-1 Pisa in the 86th minute. Somewhere, Sisyphus would have recognized this struggle, if he wasn't so busy pushing his own boulder up his eternal hill.
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| Once again, Pavlović was marauding down the left side like a winger with a vengeance. |
It was panic time for Milan. And Pisa were in control, all they had to do was hold out defensively and they would have their very first win of the season. The ball fell to Leão's feet in the 90th minute, he quickly turned and took the shot, but there was not enough power on it, and Šemper easily made the save. Then warrior Pavlović had a head to head collision with Idrissa Touré and was down. Always worrying, but it was Pavlović. So he was fine.
In the 93rd minute, completely out of the blue, Athekame redeemed himself of his previous sins. He took a bold shot from distance through traffic, and it just bounced in on the inside of the post for the Milan face-saving equalizer. 2-2 all. Like obviously, Milan should have won this one, but at least not giving Pisa their first win was slightly less humiliating. It was Athekame's first goal, and it was a big one. Very happy for him.
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| That feeling when you score your first goal. In stoppage time. Assisted by Luka Modrić. |
Nzola was carded, and Gilardino also received a yellow card for complaining about that card. Things were incredibly tense, and that was six minutes into the six minutes of planned stoppage time. And while there was the head injury and the cards, which added more time, it seemed like Zufferli forgot he was even wearing a watch. Saelemaekers dribbled through four or five defenders and took a great shot in the 99th minute, but it went painfully just wide. Finally, Zufferli remembered that people had to go home at some point and blew the final whistle. 2-2. What a letdown.
The ones who really showed up were the fans in San Siro. And not just the Curva Sud with their prematch banners in protest of the Milan-Como match being played in Australia, either. With the Pisa fans earning a late travel ban on Thursday, even though approximately 4,000 of them had already purchased tickets, it was an all-Milan stadium, and the atmosphere was amazing, despite the on-field struggles. I am sure the Pisa fans would have loved to have been there for the nearly ten minutes when they were leading against top of the table Milan.
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| We were all Saelemaekers in that moment. |
What exactly did Allegri do to trick the gods of football and earn this punishment? You could probably attribute it to any number of his previous sins. His curse against the newly promoted sides has created a very real struggle for a team with so many strong players playing only one match per week. Even damned with so many injuries, Gilardino's Pisa scored with their only two shots on goal. Milan fell from the top of the table, missing their chance to go plus four, and now have to pick themselves up from this cursed humbling to face Atalanta on Tuesday. Milan are also clearly damned to poor referee calls for the foreseeable future, thanks to the recent narrative surrounding them, so are definitely stuck pushing their own boulder up the hill if they ever want to see the top again. Just like the plight of Sisyphus.
Milan Primavera with a Massive 7-2 Win Over Cesena Primavera
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| Hat trick Lontani honored the fallen La Mantia. |
Saturday saw Renna's boys finally dominate at home with a crushing 7-2 win over Cesena Primavera. The first half was full of action. Mancioppi had to replace La Mantia in just the 5th minute, as the latter had a knee injury and could not continue. Then Lontani scored a brace: a goal in the 18th minute, then a header in the 27th minute from a Perera assist to make it 2-0 Milan Primavera. In the 43rd minute, Ossola added a third goal with an assist from Plazzotta. 3-0 Milan Primavera.
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| Mancioppi celebrates Milan's fifth goal. |
Galvagno pulled one back for Cesena Primavera just before halftime. Now it was 3-1 for Milan Primavera After the half, big chances continued, and Longoni also made a big save or two as well. In the 77th minute, Renna had Vechiu replace Nolli and Tartaglia replace Plazzotta. Then in the 83rd, Lontani got his hat trick! 4-1 Milan Primavera, and he also dedicated it to La Mantia, who had been injured early in the first half.
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In the 86th, Lontani was replaced by Castiello. A minute later, Mancioppi scored to make it 5 goals for Milan Primavera!! Now the score was 5-1 for Milan. Cesena's Galvagno got his double in the 88th, pulling a second goal back for the visitors to make it 5-2 for Milan. A minute later, Ribello scored an own goal following a cross from Castiello. 6-2 Milan Primavera. Finally, in the 90+7' minute, Castiello finished the scoring to make it an overwhelming 7-2 win for Milan Primavera. Brief highlights are available. Before this match, Cesena sat in second place with only eight goals conceded all season, while Milan were in ninth place coming in. As things stand, Cesena dropped to fourth and Milan moved up to seventh place, only two points behind them. (There are still matches to be played this weekend as of this writing.) The Primavera's next challenge will be away to Lazio next Sunday.