Milan have dropped all their points this season to newly promoted or lower table sides. (Okay, Juve are fourth and Atalanta are seventh, but with a little historical context, you can understand the mischievous implication of them being lower table sides.) Sure, I warned about the hazard this match presented in the preview. Genoa fall well within the Allegri Danger Zone™, so it really should not have been a shock to drop points yet again to a lower table team. It is almost as if the team lowers their mentality for these matches, and the opposing teams raise their mentality to compete with a top team. And only a stoppage time goal from a quality player like Leão saved us from complete humiliation, giving us the 1-1 draw with Genoa. Other than that, it was 90 minutes of lower table mentality.
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| Even our best players did not have enough to push past the 17th place team. |
I do not wish to try to tediously list who took what shots in this match, because Milan took a whopping 32 shots, with only eight on target. Meanwhile, Genoa only took seven shots, with two on target. Maignan had a relatively easy night, whereas Leali, in goal for Genoa, made seven very crucial saves, a couple of them massive ones. But while Milan created plenty of chances, they were not clinical. And also, most of those chances occurred in the second half.
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| Modrić was crucial to keeping Milan together in this one yet again. |
In the first half, Pavlović had a bit of a clumsy tackle in the box on the Milan-owned Lorenzo Colombo in just the 18th minute. Genoa obviously wanted the penalty, but a quick VAR review showed what Mariani had seen in real time, that there was not enough contact to warrant a penalty. Still, Colombo continued to threaten, and in the 28th minute, whilst having his shirt pulled by his good friend and longtime Milan teammate from our youth sector, Gabbia, he managed to slip one in past Maignan. 1-0 Genoa. The irony of our own number nine scoring on us after we just brought in a number nine to fill a need was not lost on me. But at least he refused to celebrate, as he "was born here."
At the other end, it was our defenders Gabbia and Pavlović who were making the best efforts on goal. In fact, Pavlović made a great dribble deep and then sent the ball back into Gabbia in the 31st minute, only for Leão to save his header. It was a play you would expect to see from attackers, not two of our big center backs. Pulisic and Østigård had a collision in the 33rd minute that was worrying, because clearly, Americans are simply not built like Norwegians. But that was bad for Milan, since the American is on our team.
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| Pavlović playing the playmaker again for his injured number 10. |
The lore from fairweather fans in this match will be that "Fofana missed a sitter, he's a terrible player." But the truth is that after Leali saved Leão's shot in the 36th minute, the ball came out to a wide open Fofana, who slipped, and whiffed his chance. Now truly, Fofana is a great midfielder.
But I am beginning to believe that Fofana has a severe allergy to scoring in matches. Like a life-threatening, physical aversion. Because he plays quite well most of the time in almost everything else he does. But he is the least lucky/clinical player I can remember when it comes to shooting. To the point that if I were the manager, I would just say "Don't shoot, pass it. Always." But this one was not his fault. The surface was very slippery due to the extremely cold and humid weather.
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| Pulisic did all he could and a little extra in this one. |
After relatively few chances for Milan, and maybe only a few more for Genoa in the first half, Tomori fouled Vitinha near the end of the first 45 minutes, and was incredibly lucky not to be carded for it. Particularly given that he was one card away from suspension. But more on that later. The half ended with a shocking 1-0 lead for Genoa.
Allegri replaced the horrifyingly unlucky Fofana with Loftus-Cheek at the half, as he needed his size and attacking prowess. And it helped, it was a good subbed. Almost immediately, he began to create chances. Including taking the opportunity to slam the ball straight into Vásquez's face from point blank range. Ouch. But I guess that's the lesson you learn when for marking someone too close when they turn to cross the ball in.
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| Loftus-Cheek said "no" to Lazio with more than his words, he's been making a difference for Milan. |
Just a couple of minutes later, Gabbia headed a ball that looked like it was probably going in, but Pulisic was there, trying to guarantee it. Only when he did, he was judged to have done so with his arm, at least after a VAR review, so the goal was called back. People get so mad that Fofana slipped and missed his chance, but no one is mad that Pulisic knew better than to control the ball with his arm as he was actually scoring. We could have equalized so much earlier. (Not that I'm mad at either of them. They're both human. I'm just saying... misplaced anger.)
Bartesaghi, who put in 20 crosses in this match, saw his effort go just wide in the 65th minute. And then Allegri brought out our giant new German striker, Füllkrug, replacing Saelemaekers, who had been kept relatively quiet in this one by Genoa's relentless defense. Maignan came way out of his area to clear a ball in the 68th minute, it's a bit terrifying, but I also love that he does that, it allows our players to continue to press high.
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| Bartesaghi shadowed by his former youth teammate, Lorenzo Colombo. |
Gabbia, who had been previously warned by referee Mariani, was finally shown a yellow card in the 70th minute for fouling Vitinha, who gave Milan's defense headaches all night. He was replaced by Athekame in the 76th minute, who came out swinging, sending a ball straight in from distance, but Leali had it covered. Leali was then booked for timewasting, he probably just needed to take a breath from the onslaught of Milan's attack. Including Pulisic's great shot in the 87th that forced him into a fantastic save.
The aforementioned Viking, Østigård, stepped on our shiny... er... rugged new Füllkrug, but Mariani conveniently missed that. And Di Paolo, the head VAR ref, with whom there has been a penalty in every Milan match he has been in that same role, four penalties against Milan, also missed that. Huh. At least in his introductory press conference, Füllkrug was too new or too sporting to blame the ref... yet.But there was not a lot of time to dwell on that at that point, because finally, two minutes into stoppage time, Leão, playing with his adductor injury, managed to head the ball into the back of the net and finally find the equalizer. 1-1 all.
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| I know that Vikings usually take what they want, but in football, there should be penalties. |
A minute later, Athekame was fouled in the box and went down in pain, so there was a VAR check. However, Füllkrug had actually fouled Leali just ahead of this, and Ellertsson seemed to get the ball first, so there was no penalty given. But, as Karma likes to do, Genoa was awarded a penalty not three minutes later, for a foul on... wait for it... Ellertsson.
With so much at risk, and such an insane final ten minutes of the match, Milan players protested to Mariani. In return, Mariani apparently carded Maignan, Pavlović and Tomori. A couple of points here. This is the second time this season that Maignan has been carded for approaching a referee to speak to him as captain and fined €1,500. The first time, vs. Torino, he also received a €1,500 fine. And I have to ask... if he was white, would he have been carded? Let alone fined? Because I don't see other captains being carded or fined like this for arguing just as much or more (looking at you, Lautaro.)
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| Doesn't look like a €1,500 fine to me. Are our refs just intimidated by a bigger man than they are? |
Secondly, it is worth noting that these cards for "dissent" are costly. Tomori, for example, will miss Sunday's trip to Fiorentina. La Gazzetta dello Sport claimed that Tomori's card was for excessively celebrating after the penalty was taken, however you can clearly see Mariani point to him as well as Maignan ahead of the penalty when he is awarding the yellow cards, and the official time is the same, too. The official report from the Lega Serie A states that his card was because he "Protested against the match officials."There was also a rumor going around that Maignan had said something disrespectful to the referee. That, too had to be debunked.
I swear, I am so done with the Marotta League and their "journalist" cronies at La Gazzetta and other papers. They discredit Milan at every chance and make up rumor after rumor after rumor. They even started rumors earlier this season that Milan has been given favorable ref calls by referees this season. What?!! Along with Udinese, Milan have had the most penalties given against them in all of Serie A. And most of them were not even penalties. How does that favor us? The Official Milan account shared a picture of a "pitch invading" little bird at the beginning of the match, which I identified as "Marotta's eyes on the ground." And while I was only joking, after all of this, now I am not so sure.
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| Was this little pitch invader Marotta's spy? Or just an omen? |
To be fair, Pavlović was caught on camera digging a hole with his cleats at the penalty spot ahead of the penalty. Mariani does not seem to have carded him for this, as he, too, was arguing about the call. But De Rossi pointed out that he should have been punished. I love Pavlović, but I agree. This has raised controversy amongst Milan fans, but De Rossi showed respect for Milan's heritage by saying, "given the stature of the Rossoneri jersey, you'd expect different behavior."
Anyway, back to this penalty, poor Stanciu faced Karma for his team being awarded a penalty that was maybe not deserved, and he skied his penalty. So, in the 99th minute, with a chance to win the match for Genoa and the young man from Genoa who had perished in the Crans Montana tragedy, whose funeral had been held that day, he missed. And shortly thereafter, Mariani blew the whistle. Milan 1, Genoa 1. Milan had escaped with a point.
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| Even playing with an injury, Leão was the savior again. |
It must be pointed out that De Rossi has been doing a great job at Genoa. He inherited a team that was winless in November, and he has earned them 13 points now in ten matches. Genoa played with heart and determination, (almost as if they were playing for that young man and the other victims of the fire or something.) They played up to Milan's level. But Milan played down to their level. Despite taking more than 30 shots, they made plenty of mistakes and lacked the mentality and desire they need for 90 minutes to win a match like this. Another Allegri match against a lower table team where we dropped points. Shocker. It must be that lower table mentality.
Milan Primavera Suffer Another 1-0 Defeat Away to Torino Primavera
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| The Primavera starting 11 who faced Torino. |
After last week's amazing win vs. Guida's Roma, then getting knocked out of the Coppa Italia Primavera midweek with just a 1-0 defeat by Parma, Saturday saw Milan Primavera drop an important three points away to Torino Primavera in their 1-0 loss. With tired legs, Renna's boys bravely took the pitch. They actually created a number of good chances, but Torino's defense were prepared and did not let anything through.
As usual, Milan Primavera were only punished by one momentary defensive error near the end of the first half, resulting in the singular goal for Torino. All efforts to find the equalizer in the second half were thwarted, although to their credit, Milan held strong against a team fighting against relegation (read: nothing to lose and everything to gain.) There are brief highlights of the match. Milan Primavera will host Fiorentina's Primavera on Friday,