When they say that Milan cannot catch a break, the Lega Serie A took that very literally. They scheduled this match less than 72 hours after our Genoa match on Thursday night. UEFA is working to make that against UEFA rules for the health and safety of players, but Serie A does not care about their players. I don't know that more time would have made a difference in the result, as Allegri truly has a problem with the lower table teams this season. To be able to finish with a frustrating 1-1 draw with Fiorentina thanks to a late goal was likely in the cards already, but the toll that playing matches so frequently takes on our players is another issue. And our recurring injuries show that. But it's football, and we are Diavoli. There ain't no rest for the wicked.
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| Dropping points along with too many matches may be taking its toll on the players. |
Vanoli's Fiorentina came out attacking. De Winter, deputizing for the suspended Tomori, had some really nice defending in the 11th minute. Then it was the Pulisic vs. De Gea show. That ended painfully for De Gea in the 12th minute, as Pulisic's cleats caught him and he required treatment. But Pulisic kept shooting, and either his shots were uncharacteristically just barely off target or De Gea was prime De Gea and saved the shots. He also saved Gabbia's header, too.
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| Pulisic was frustrated in the first half. |
Things started getting dicey, though. Moise Kean was carded for dissent, which, with the Three Stooges of refs of Massa, with Maresca and Chiffi on VAR, was just wasted energy. Then Fiorentina started attacking, and Maignan got involved. The comical moment, though was when Loftus-Cheek absolutely muscled Ndour off the ball, out of bounds, and to the ground in the 42nd minute. Vanoli was right there, and he was just screaming at Ndour like an angry father or a drill sergeant. I mean, it was sad, too, but also just looked so comical.
Saelemaekers seemed to be stepped on by Guðmondsson in the 45th, but of course, no card. Then Ndour fouled the Belgian just a minute later. And for some reason, Vanoli lost his mind in the seventh minute of stoppage time and was screaming at the referee. First he was shown a yellow card, and then very shortly thereafter, a red card, so was sent off. Odd how someone who had been screaming at his own player five minutes later might have lost it. Dodô had a shot saved, which was the final shot before the whistle blew at the half.
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| Fiorentina's whipping boy on the night. And I know you saw it, Massa. |
The second half did not start much better for Milan. Jashari fouled Dodô, no card. However, a few minutes later, Estupiñan was carded for pulling Moise Kean's shirt. Allegri subbed him off, along with Füllkrug and Jashari, replacing them with Bartesaghi, Leão, and Rabiot respectively in the 60th minute. He knew this match needed something. Maignan made a big save on Gosens, a diving header, and then Allegri made another substitution, bringing on Fofana for Loftus-Cheek.
But things went from poor to worse when Comuzzo scored in the 66th minute, putting Fiorentina up 1-0. To add injury to insult, Pavlović and Comuzzo collided heads in the air two minutes later. Pavlović also landed badly, on his shoulder and head, and players immediately signaled for the medics, which is always nerve-wracking. It took a while for them to get him bandaged up, and Comuzzo got a little bandage himself.
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| Warrior Pavlović, truly sweating blood for the shirt. |
Only later, after our Serbian warrior went to the hospital for examinations, would we learn the extent of the damage to Pavlović. His head was reportedly okay, no signs of concussion. But he had a gaping wound on his cheekbone that required nine stitches to close up. Ouch. No wonder his shirt had been so bloody. Hope he heals quickly.
Milan had to play down a man for a few minutes as a result of him going off after his injury, until Allegri was finally allowed to bring on Nkunku in the 78th minute. That did seem to help Milan begin to create more chances, mainly off target. Although Dodô was still a menace, and Rabiot was shown a yellow for fouling him in the 84th minute. But Milan kept pressing, and finally, in the 90th minute, Nkunku scored from a Fofana assist. It was level, 1-1 all.
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| The goal scorer, and the assist-maker. |
For a match that maybe wasn't quite Milan's rock bottom, but had been pretty poor, the last few minutes did give a bit of hope, although only a fool's hope, that we might just turn it around. Massa was already off the clock well before the final whistle, as Pulisic was fully held and pulled to the ground, absolutely no call whatsoever. But when Fofana fouled Dodô a minute later, yellow card. Huh.
The final two minutes of stoppage time largely belonged to Fiorentina, though. Our former Milan youth team player, Brescianini, freshly arrived this week to Fiorentina, hit the bottom of the crossbar, but the ball rebounded back out. Then Maignan made an incredible save on Moise Kean in the final minute of stoppage time to save the point.
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| Time for Massa to get his eyes checked again. |
It was another poor performance against a relegation team, who nearly took all three points from us. Another two points dropped, the consistent pattern we have seen from Allegri all season. And while you could definitely point to tired legs, or question Allegri's specific rotation choices, such as benching Modrić completely for this one, it was more of the same, really. And while Milan have done very well against the better teams all season, it is concerning at this point in the season, particularly the part where we have no attackers who are 100%. But on Thursday, we go again, making up the match vs. Como that we missed during the Supercoppa in December. Because there ain't no rest for the wicked.
Milan Futuro Lose 1-0 to Pavia at Home
At the same time as the first team was struggling in Florence, Milan Futuro were at home, but lost 1-0 to Pavia. Once again, they conceded a goal in the first half, as Poesio scored for Pavia in the 43rd minute to give the visitors the lead. After the half, there was a worrying injury for Minotti, and Milan Futuro did create some chances, while Pittarella had an important save as well.However, despite increasing pressure throughout the match, Milan Futuro were unable to break through and get the goal, and they dropped three points. Brief highlights are available.
There is an argument to be made that they missed Maximilian Ibrahimović, who left on loan to Ajax for the rest of the season, and had been an important player for the team of late. But they have played without him for periods of time while he was injured, so it was not just about him. This was just a disappointing result, having won last week and climbed back up to third place in Group B, this loss knocked Oddo's side back down to fifth place. They will face Chievo Verona on Sunday evening.