After facing a level of criticism and backlash the toxic Italian media reserves especially for foreign managers or players in Serie A due to the brutal midweek loss in the Europa League, Amorim shut them all up by getting everything right. I am still going to buy some extra popcorn for his press conferences, which I am now very much looking forward to. But Milan's 3-0 win over Lecce and the dominant performance that came along with it gives Amorim and the entire team a bit of respite from the media's toxic ways over the long three week international break. What a great way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the San Siro stadium. Plus, the match was pretty easy on the eyes, too. Finally, Amorim.
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| Take a bow, Mister. It's been quite the week. |
After making so many interesting lineups, changes, and having to use substitutions to try to salvage matches, as performances were steadily worsening. the criticism of Amorim was justified, even if it was too harsh. After all, he had only lost one match. But looking at the starting lineups, it was obvious he listened and learned, other than the terrifying presence of Estupiñan who had an abysmal performance the week before. Still, this was Lecce, and Milan have notoriously struggled against teams like Lecce, so it's not like fans were sure of anything at kickoff.
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| It's not wrong to have PTSD when you see his name on the starting lineups. |
Let's start by looking at his starting 11: Maignan; Gila, De Winter, Pavlović; Chukwueze, Modrić, Rabiot, Estupiñan; Pulisic, Saelemaekers; and Ramos. There has been speculation that Amorim may have consulted with his players before choosing this starting 11, given that he has no one in management who knows anything about football, thus no one else to consult with outside of his own staff. However, When you consider that it was Pulisic's first start, and that both he and Saelemaekers were not called up for their national teams this time (what the hell, Van Bommel? Saelemaekers was great this summer for Belgium.) Amorim may have just chosen the players who were most hungry for this one.
However he chose them, it worked, practically immediately. Pulisic scored an incredible goal from a long ball from Pavlović, in which the American controlled the ball perfectly with his first touch, and was lethal with the second, sending it past a helpless Falcone. 1-0 Milan. This was Pulisic's first Milan goal of 2026, and he did not hold back his emotions. Serie A awarded him Player of the Match, and obviously, Milan fans voted him their MVP of the match. As happy as I was for the team, and for Amorim to have his first lead in a first half this season, I was absolutely thrilled for Pulisic, who has clearly had a tough year.
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| Otherwordly. |
Referee La Penna was not interested in showing cards, and this was evidenced when Monteira clearly elbowed Gila in the face in the 21st minute. No card. Likewise, Pavlović fouled Lassane Coulibaly pretty hard just three minutes later, and the Milan player was not shown a yellow card, either. Lecce were not without their chances, Gaspar had a shot saved in the 24th minute. And Chukwueze came dangerously close to connecting with a pass into the box in the 35th minute, but Falcone managed to grab it just in time.
Milan fans, fresh from the pain of last week, whistled Estupiñan when he fouled Pierotti in the 35th minute. I'm not a fan of whistling your own players, but I must admit that I was afraid this was going to go badly again. A few minutes later, from a corner, De Winter attempted a header, but it seemed as though he got in the way of Ramos, who was perhaps positioned better to actually score.
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| Did De Winter block Ramos' chance? |
In the 42nd minute, we saw our favorite defender-winger-striker Pavlović dribble in and take a shot, but Falcone saved it. Pulisic also had a chance blocked just before halftime. And then poor Pavlović got kicked in the head by Danilo Veiga as his foot followed through. Ouch. Luckily, he seemed to be fine.
Saelemaekers seemed even more determined in the second half, and a crosse he sent in saw Ramos attempt an overhead bicycle kick–the kind that would have been incredible had he scored, but was a huge letdown when he did not. Estupiñan attempted a shot straight into a defender, who obviously blocked it, then Pavlović thought he had scored a goal, but it was ruled offside, so did not count. And in any case, replays showed it would have been a an own goal for Falcone.
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| Our favorite defender-winger-striker. |
A minute later, Danilo Veiga earned the only yellow card for attempting to cripple Estupiñan. Seriously, it was a bad foul, and I did feel really bad for him. He was having a decent match. But that was soon forgotten, because in the 61st minute, Rabiot scored a great goal from a give-and-go with Ramos. 2-0 Milan. And actually, the play had started with a pass from Gila in the back, which made it even better.
In the 65th minute, the gods of football shown down on Milan and in Estupiñan in particular. He came running in to make a clearance basically at the goal line, and it so very nearly was an own goal, yet he actually cleared it. For that, the San Siro fans actually cheered him, as well they should.
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| Rabiot leaving destruction in his wake. |
Esteban nearly had a 1v1 situation with Maignan, but Siebert hit it too hard, and Maignan was able to safely grab it. A minute later, Esteban actually fouled Maignan, knocking him down. I don't know what goes through these players' minds when they make contact with Maignan, but he is so fierce, I would not want to be stared down by him in a situation like that.
In the 69th minute, Loftus-Cheek replaced Pulisic and Moreira replaced Saelemaekers. Even when Milan were up 2-0, Amorim's subs made a difference. After Estupiñan, high on his confidence after making that clearance, made a shot that went wide, it was time for Moreira to shine. Again. He dribbled around a defender and nutmegged the goalkeeper to score his third goal in just two matches. 3-0 Milan.
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| Striking fear into the hearts of goalkeepers. |
In the 76th minute, Musah replaced Modrić, and Bartesaghi replaced Estupiñan. Just after that, Rabiot was down in a lot of pain. Replays showed that Siebert's cleats somehow came in contact with his shin and/or ankle. Ouch. A few minutes later, after he had managed to recover, Ngom took a decent shot that was saved by Maignan. Then Fatah also took a shot, again Maignan was called to the rescue and pushed it wide of the goal.
Camarda was subbed on in the 87th minute for Chukwueze, coming on to face his former teammates he played with last season. But he did not have time to make much of an impact. Kaba took a shot from distance that did not trouble Maignan too much, and then the final whistle blew. It was a 3-0 decisive victory for Milan, and there were smiles everywhere–players, staff, and all through the stadium with fans young and old.
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| The San Siro turned 100, and Milan gave her a beautiful win. |
I give Amorim a lot of credit for changing his ideas about what a starting 11 should be like, throwing out his ideas about "balance," and going for the jugular, ensuring a win from the first half. But I give him even more credit for being humble enough to talk about learning from his errors at Manchester United, and not wanting to make the same mistakes again, so he gave up his rigid tactics and allowed the players to play more free, more fluidly. And luckily for all of us, he learned this lesson in the best way possible. I can definitely admire that in a manager. Finally, Amorim.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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