On Sunday, Milan dispensed with Derby rivals Inter 1-0, with Estupiñan becoming an unlikely Derby hero. However, a lovely story emerged afterward from a journalist that demonstrated that Estupiñan's goal was not a fluke, but the result of belief in him from coaches and staff on down. The journalist shared that he was asking Allegri's assistant, Landucci, about Estupiñan as they were leaving the stadium the week before after the Cremonese win. Landucci was so sure that Estupiñan was more than ready for Dumfries and Henrique's Inter, that he was willing to bet a pizza on it. Well, that pizza is going to taste even better after Milan won their second consecutive Derby, but Landucci has to be most proud of a player like Estupiñan, who has worked and waited all season for a night like this. And I think the journalist learned an important lesson, as well: never bet against this Milan.
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| Even with the most unlikely heroes, this Milan can never be counted out. |
As mentioned in my preview, "Keeping Them Honest," there was controversy with the Ultras, who were told they could prepare coreografia for this Derby, they submitted plans, waited for the Club to respond, and that response did not come until Wednesday. Which was way too late for them to do anything, and the Club knew it. That's why they had planned their boring "Benvenuti al'Inferno" ("Welcome to Hell") coreo for the whole stadium. Not only is this like when a nerd gets a tattoo or something, trying to be cool, but you may recognize that phrase, because it is part of the marketing for the fourth kit Puma produced with Slam Jam for Milan. And the players, of course, wore the special shirts with that phrase as they arrived to the stadium.
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| A cheap marketing ploy, replacing the brilliance of the most devout fans. |
It's one thing if they want to pimp out our players and make them wear whatever they want them to. The players have contracts with the Club, they are being paid millions of dollars by the Club, much of which is funded by these sponsors and marketing. But now they are openly suppressing the fans. The Milan Ultras, who are the beating heart and soul of the San Siro (and away games for that matter.) It's not enough that they abandoned them and slandered them through Inter's Ultra mafia scandal. Or that they then refused to renew the season tickets of certain Curva members who had protested the management. But now, they are monetizing and making a mockery of the Curva Sud's coreo, the best coreo in the world. They make me physically ill. And no one talks about this. Everyone is okay with them silencing the most devout fans. Where is the support for our Curva?
After the stadium-wide marketing ploy, the match kicked off, and it was immediately a Derby. Action packed from start to finish, I don't know how anyone could say the match disappointed. Well, Interisti are, but they have always cried, so that is nothing new. Modrić took the first shot less than three minutes in, which was just wide. A shame it didn't go in, because he had paid for 60 of his closest family and friends to attend this Derby, including his old teammate Sergio Ramos. I'm not sure if he did this because he is planning for this to be his last Derby ever, or just because it was the first home Derby for him at Milan, but it was a class move from a class player.
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| Modrić probably waving to his 60 friends and family he brought to the Derby. |
Bastoni was rightfully being whistled every time he touched the ball, and when he fouled Saelemaeker, it was actually called as a foul. This was new. In the 16th minute, Tomori was down with what looked like a muscle injury. Allegri had Odogu warming up, but luckily, Tomori was able to continue. Estupiñan fouled Barella, who rolled around like a roll of toilet paper down a hill or something, his bad acting is just so very bad. Dimarco sent a shot uncharacteristically well over the goal.
In the 28th minute, Doveri came over to warn Bastoni to leave Maignan alone as they were getting ready for a set piece. How far we've come. Two weeks ago, Parma scored the winning goal with a defender fouling Maignan, we were told it wasn't a foul, and we lost three points. The very next week, that same player was whistled for that exact same action, but this time it was a foul. Doveri did a great job of handling this fiery atmosphere, as well as keeping the match going.
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| It kind of went like this for Inter. |
That didn't stop Bastoni from doing Bastoni things, though. He came in with a very late foul on Rabiot. Then Zielinski kicked Rabiot's shin. Mkhitaryan had a shot that was saved, but was probably offside, and then a miracle happened. Fofana put in the sweetest of crosses, and Estupiñan scored a fantastic goal in just the 35th minute. 1-0 Milan. Everyone went insane with celebrations. Estupiñan never would have even started had it not been for Bartesaghi's injury, and here he was, the Derby Hero. (And also Landucci's I assume, since now he gets a free pizza.) It was beautiful to see someone who has put in the hard work all year, and waited for his moment, and now scored the most important goal of his life. He was also rewarded with the Serie A Player of the Match, and of course, was voted MVP by Milan fans.
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| Estupiñan celebrating by showing he's got his blinders on, he is laser focused. |
Barella fouled Saelemaekers, and as he ran through, his cleat seemed to make contact with Saelemaekers' face. Then Saelemaekers was fouled by Dimarco, seemingly after his shot, but probably because Inter had successfully conditioned the referees that Saelemaekers was a diver after last week's match with Cremonese, Doveri did not really take any of this seriously. But he also didn't care when De Winter just pulled Esposito down, so I wasn't too mad. Rabiot saw his header saved, Fofana sent his shot over (surprise, surprise,) and once again, in stoppage time before the half, Bastoni had to be warned about fouling Maignan on a set piece again. And this time, Maignan just shoved him away like a rag doll as soon as the ball was kicked. It was beautiful.
In the second half, Inter decided to try to show up. But it begs the question, particularly now that Milan did the double on them this season: Are Inter really seven points better than Milan? They certainly did not look it in this match. Having been dismissed from the Champions League by Bodø/Glimt (and potentially facing a fine for wearing their betting sponsor in the away leg,) they do not play like their referee-inflated stats seem to show. There were more chances created for both sides, and obviously, more violence.
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| Are Inter actually 7 points better than Milan? |
That included the first card in the match, which was obviously to Bastoni, for whom Inter do not think deserves all the whistles. And for me, it was potentially violent conduct, something that could have been a red instead of yellow. But he faced some serious Karma, because he kicked Rabiot, seemingly possibly intentionally, and injured himself much worse in the process. So much worse, he had to be subbed off. Delicious Karma. Rabiot took some treatment, though, before he could get back into the match.
In the 73rd minute, Allegri subbed Füllkrug on for Leão, and Ricci on for Fofana. In the 80th minute, Rabiot was shown a yellow card for being the "bigger man"–he allowed Dumfries to charge into him. I wondered if this was like that lost ref cam footage, the footage that put him in this position, but this card will keep him out of the Lazio match due to suspension. That's okay, he didn't need to be brutalized by them anyway.
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| Another assist and another great performance from Fofana. |
In the 82nd minute, Frattesi elbowed Pavlović in the throat, which is also very dangerous, and could be at least a yellow, but not in this match. Doveri did well enough, but I always get nervous when our players are in real danger of serious injury, and the other team sees no accountability. In the 83rd minute, Allegri sent Nkunku on for Pulisic.
In the 87th minute, Doveri awarded Inter a free kick, although it looked like Ricci's shirt had been ripped. So that was interesting as well. Maignan's goal kick had to be retaken, and then, after Sučić's foul on Modrić was not called, he returned the favor. But of course, he was shown a yellow card. Now we were in stoppage time, which was eventful in and of itself.
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| Ricci, the player with the arm Interisti cry over. |
Inter somehow won a corner kick from Esposito going down after he kicked De Winter and also kicked the ball out. Seems like a minor call, but it set up Inter for a series of very dangerous corner kicks in stoppage time. In the 93rd minute, from an Inter free kick, the ball went into the back of the net. However, Doveri had immediately blown his whistle for a shove from Carlos Augusto on Saelemaekers before the ball went in, so it was never a goal. Obviously, that made Inter big mad. But it was just the appetizer.
Following a series of four or five very dangerous corner kicks, Inter wanted a handball called on Ricci. However, it was never a handball, which the AIA confirmed right away. Not only was his arm in natural position, he pulled away from the contact. We have heard about this ever since, and probably will for years. They claim that if places were switched, we would be complaining, too. However, first of all, Milan fans actually know the rules. Secondly, we have had so many worse calls go against us, this would have been a nothing call. I felt like it was also Karma that the last shot of the match went to Akanji, whose header was well over the bar, after he snubbed us to go to Inter.
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| A team united in victory. |
Inter, of course, swarmed Doveri after the match, complaining ad nauseum and without consequence. It's their thing. (Meanwhile, Milan get yellow cards from imaginary protests that are deleted from ref cam footage.) Like the match was over, what was their crying even going to do? Not a lot of brain cells in that camp. But they had been rightfully defeated. Even Dimarco was masterfully shut down by Saelemaekers, who hounded him like a bulldog, and he couldn't even shoot on target the few times he slipped away. I know losing, especially with fair refereeing, is a new thing for them, but maybe they should get used to it. You know, just in case the AIA decides the Marotta League is over?
The entire match felt like a true Derby, but also it was great to get some vindication in the form of good refereeing. Of course, the league slapped Milan with more fines. Milan are the most fined team in the league now. Of course. They will stop at nothing to penalize us. But on this night, we were victorious. In spite of Inter. Which goes to show that with proper refereeing, maybe Milan deserve to be in the conversation as to which team is the best. And certainly, you should never bet against Milan.
Milan Primavera Lose Third Straight Match 3-2 to Cesena
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| Captain, goalscorer, leader. Scotti hurries a restart after his goal, but it still was not enough. |
Already in a disappointing run of form, Renna's Primavera faced the fourth place side on Monday. In what was a tragedy of errors, Milan battled on ten men for 50 minutes, but ultimately still lost 3-2 to Cesena. The first goal was conceded due to a rare error by Bouyer. In a slightly puzzling way of managing their goalkeepers, Bouyer played for Futuro, then was splitting duties with Bianchi for the Primavera. However, with Bianchi out after an injury and surgery six weeks ago, Bouyer has become the usual starter, which not only helps a goalkeeper, but also helps the team, to have consistency in goal.
Down a goal, things went from bad to worse as Pandolfi was sent off in the 40th minute after a high kick on the opponent. Cesena scored their second goal just a few minutes later. The Primavera were handed a lifeline when Lontani was fouled in the area and won a penalty kick. However, with the luck of the day, his penalty grazed the top of the crossbar, so it was 2-0 for Cesena at halftime.
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| Better luck next time... at least they support one another. |
It seemed that perhaps Milan Primavera's luck was changing when Pippo Scotti chipped the keeper to get Milan on the scoreboard. And there were some decent chances, too. However, in the 90th minute, Cesena scored a third goal from the league's top scorer, who has 12 goals this season. Miilan still managed to find a second goal from Perina just a minute later, but it was too little, too late. The final score was Milan Primavera 3, Cesena 2. It was just one of those days. Brief highlights are available. Unfortunately for Renna's Primavera, there have been too many of those days, and they still languish in 14th place on the table. They will host 12th place Bologna Primavera on Sunday, hoping for better luck this time.
Reviewed by Elaine
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