Ahead of this match, there was so much talk of Camarda getting his first start in ages, and Comotto possibly getting playing time, that many forgot about one of our top scorers, 19 year-old Alphadjo Cisse. He did not start on Sunday, only playing 12 minutes, which is probably why he had so many goals just waiting to get out. And Red Bull Salzburg were definitely not ready for him, as evidenced by the 4-0 Milan win. I was truly concerned that Amorim was going to make sketchy choices all over again that would cost us more points, but he clearly knew what he was doing all along. Camarda was the decoy, and Cisse was Milan's secret weapon.
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| Milan's secret weapon x3. |
Let's be fair, Amorim and the team have given us all plenty of reasons to question the lineups. All three draws in Serie A felt avoidable, and related to the personnel choices/timing. But right away, it became apparent that in Austria, we had nothing to fear. I don't know if it was just a poor performance for Salzburg, considering they were undefeated ahead of this, or if our experience and quality truly was able to outclass them. But it was very enjoyable, and a very different experience to our first Europa League match vs. Benfica at the San Siro.
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| The pressure was on Pavlović to make a good showing vs. his former club. |
It was very clear right away the Milan were not going to show any mercy to Pavlović's former team. Rabiot took a great shot in the 9th minute that was ironically deflected by Camarda's body. Just three minutes later, Alphadjo Cisse gave them a warning, after great passes back and forth with Rabiot and Bartesaghi. Then Hutchinson, who was a bit of a revelation in this match, sent a shot over. And those were all the warnings Salzburg got.
In the 15th minute, Hutchinson sent in a great cross for Cisse, who headed it down and past Zawieschitzky. 1-0 Milan. The 19 year-old phenom exploded with joy, and it was beautiful that his Italy U21 teammates Camarda and Bartesaghi were there first to hug him in celebration. It was also immediately clear that any worries about the first half frustrations Amorim typically inflicts upon us were not going to be necessary this evening.
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| Cisse celebrated first with his Italy U21 teammates. |
While obviously, I would have loved for Hutchinson to score his first Milan goal with his shot in the 17th minute, after Zawieschitzky had come out to deal with the threat from Loftus-Cheek, Boma made a fantastic goal line clearance on Hutchinson. And goal line clearances are like my favorite thing in football, so I have to at least thank Boma for that if our boy couldn't get on the scoresheet.
Hutchinson did, however, get into the ref's book with a yellow card for a foul on Mazurek in the 21st minute. That he still did so well while playing the rest of the 90 minutes on a yellow card tells you something about just how good his game was. (I hope his performance and chemistry with Rabiot does not interfere with the Moreira-Rabiot Bromance, though.) Two minutes after Hutchinson's card, it seemed that Tabaković had scored for the home side, but it was immediately whistled off, as referee Feşnic noted his linesman with his flag showing the ball had crossed the line out of bounds before the goal was scored. It was still 1-0 Milan.
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| Hutchinson was Salzburg's nightmare. |
RB Salzburg did do their best to get one back, though, with Mazurek's effort going just wide, then Tabaković's next run shut down by Maignan. And just in case they forgot about Milan's secret weapon, Cisse scored a second goal in the 32nd minute, this time with an assist from Bartesaghi. 2-0 Milan. In the 40th minute, Zabransky was shown the other yellow card of the match, because it was his only answer to try to stop Hutchinson.
The second half started with Rabiot forcing the Salzburg keeper into a save. And in just the fourth minute of the second half, Cisse completed his perfect hat trick with a right footed shot from a Rabiot cross. But... was it a goal? There was a painfully long VAR review to determine whether or not he was onside. Yet at the end, even if it looked very much like he could have been just offside, the images came back, and he was onside. Zabransky, who had immediately raised his hand for offside, was the one who kept him onside. Delicious. The goal stood. 3-0 Milan, and someone would be taking home that match ball. Plus, he became the youngest Italian to ever score a hat trick in European competition.
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| The destruction and devastation of Cisse's second goal. |
I think everyone was emboldened by the three-nil lead, because as Baidoo was running toward the area unopposed, Maignan came out of the area with a sliding tackle to dispossess the poor young striker, who looked in total disbelief. That's right, boy, remember his name: Mike Maignan. Because you won't be scoring on him any time soon.
A few minutes later, as he was trying to make it around Zabransky in the box, Hutchinson went down after a little shirt pull and a light shove on his shoulder. It was the kind of contact that if he had been an Inter player in Serie A, maybe he would have been given a penalty. But neither of those things were true, no foul was given, much less a penalty, and Hutchinson's convincing sit, arms in the air, and disbelieving facial expression were all in vain.
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| Third time is a charm. |
Camarda's performance in this match as the decoy was overshadowed by the secret weapon and his hat trick. In the 59th, he had probably his only quasi-chance to take a shot, and it was deflected by one of the two defenders on him. As a 6'2" (1.89m) striker lurking in the area, he was actually incredibly effective at drawing the defenders throughout his time on the pitch. And while being the decoy rarely garners praise from fans or even pundits, Camarda distracted so Cisse could shine. I have no doubts about Camarda, his time to shine will come, too.
Amorim decided to send in the senior players in the 60th minute, so Pulisic replaced Cisse, Ramos replaced Camarda, and Modrić replaced Rabiot. Normally, these guys would have to come on to try to find a winner, but this time, they only needed to not concede three goals. Which would not have been a challenge for them, so in the 67th minute, Amorim decided to send Filippo Terracciano on for Tomori, who had an excellent first match back from exile.
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| Absolute legend and a possible future legend pass as Cisse is subbed off. |
Perhaps recognizing the new liability of having Terracciano on the pitch, Milan went hard on the offensive. Less than a minute later, Hutchinson made a fantastic run, taking a long pass from Modrić, poked the ball around a defender, took a great shot, and somehow, Zawieschitzky kept it out with a lucky outstretched foot. Honestly, I still don't know how Hutchinson did not get on the scoresheet. After a corner, Bartesaghi attempted one from distance, but the goalkeeper bobbled then saved that one, too.
It was in the 72nd minute that Jashari capitalized on a dreadful defensive error, just flicking the ball away from Mazurek and into the path of Ramos, who did not need a second invitation. He smashed it into the back of the net. 4-0 Milan. A moment of vindication for all the criticism of one of our hardest working players, because strikers obviously have to score goals.
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| Opportunists of the best kind. |
Both sides took turns taking shots off target, then Barry kind of swept Pulisic as he ran by, who worryingly was down for a minute. But luckily, no more new injuries. Amorim used his final sub to bring the young Diawara on for Pavlović, who received appluase from the supporters of his former club as he came off. And then Terracciano happened.
Having been on the pitch for all of maybe 15 minutes, Salzburg took note of his inadequacies and sent Scmid running in toward the area solo with a great pass from Diakité. Now, some might call what Terracciano did a "tactical foul," or "taking one for the team," but having seen him play enough times, including the penalty he conceded just 2 minutes into his Serie A debut with Milan, I can assure you that he is simply not capable of anything else. He reached out and shoved Schmid in the small of the back, denying him an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO.)
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| The panic on Salzburg players' faces as they watch Bartesaghi's assist to Cisse for goal number two. |
Terracciano is at least smart enough to know that is a straight red, and started to walk away immediately after it was shown, but then actually did go and talk to Feşnic briefly before leaving the pitch. One little blessing was that Filippo did manage to make contact with Schmid just out of the area, so a free kick rather than a penalty. This was helpful in keeping the clean sheet, even if he left his team on ten men for the final fifteen minutes plus stoppage time.
And after those nail biting minutes of praying to keep the clean sheet and goal differential, it became clear that his subsequent suspension for next week's match vs. Bournemouth will also be a massive blessing, actually. We did have to sweat out those final minutes, with Maignan only having to make one save, thanks to their less than clinical finishing. And Milan even got the ball down to the other end and Ramos took a shot that went over just before the end of regulation.
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| You know this match ball is in a place of honor, Cisse absolutely earned this. |
At the final whistle, we had a result and performance that were the polar opposite of our first Europa League matchday, and in fact, Milan were named the "Performance of the Week" in the Europa League by UEFA. A very happy young Cisse got to take home the match ball and was deservedly voted MVP of the match by Milan fans. Four goals, three points, and an affirmation that maybe Milan's European DNA is not quite gone after all (Particularly after watching Italian teams in the Champions League this week.) And even better that it came from playing our young players, deploying our secret weapon.
This post inspired by the music of The Prodigy's "Firestarter"
Milan Futuro vs. Piacenza
Saturday, October 17 • 11:00 CEST (5am EDT)
This match is not being televised in the U.S.
Chievo Verona vs. Milan Futuro
Sunday, October 18 • 15:00 CEST (9am EDT)
Sunday, October 18 • 18:00 CEST (12noon EDT)