Milan had been pushing their luck in the league, between inconsistent performances, questionable lineups, and now a catastrophic injury crisis of epic proportions, we knew there would be a loss at some point. I think most of us just did not want it to be the week before the Derby. Or this level of humiliation. And particularly when Alphadjo Cisse's magical brace had put us back in front, losing 4-2 to Bologna at the San Siro felt worse than just a loss. It felt like it could even be The Omen.
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| Is this an omen? |
Last year in this fixture, Milan wore their yellow kits, and Milan won that match with Modrić's first ever Milan goal. So, when I saw Bologna wearing gold kits, I feared it was an omen. Worse, when it was our former Pobega who took the first shot on target in just the first minute, I was filled with dread. And sure enough, in the 8th minute, Mbanugala scored. 1-0 Bologna.
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| Don't sleep on this one, Hutchinson has been putting in some very good performances. |
But then, things flipped on their head just as quickly when our very own secret weapon, Cisse, scored after speedy Hutchinson capitalized on a defensive error to send the ball straight into his path. The recently-turned-20 year-old Cisse only needed to be at the right place at the right time to equalize for Milan 1-1 all.
And thirteen minutes later, he did it again. Amorim's outcast, Tomori, playing now more out of necessity than anything else, sent a cross ing, and once again, Cisse did not miss. 2-1 Milan. We went from being down a goal to up a goal in just 20 minutes. And that also seemed to wake Milan up a bit, too. Even though chances were fewer and far between, and the game got more physical, Milan were more in control now.
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| That equalizer definitely felt like this. |
The referee Juan Luca Sacchi was letting nearly everything go, the new mandate from referee chief Daniele Orsato this season. And while I understand the premise for this argument, few Italian referees seem to carry with them the proper judgment of when letting things go is just keeping things going, when letting things go just gives more license for players to foul even more and try to get away with more, and when to card to keep players safe.
Like if the goal is to have the game interrupted less, then why let players play so hard that the fouls are more serious, the stops are longer, because the injuries are more serious? This has long been the problem with Italian referees, finding that sweet spot between playable minutes and not sending players out on stretchers every match. More and more often, we are seeing things that would have definitely been called as fouls, if not cards, end up with players down for treatment, adding to stoppage time.
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| Seven goals in all competitions in just October. Remember his name. |
That said, after Odgaard was down from a De Winter foul, then Ramos was down near theedge of the box, and he also ended up down at the end of stoppage time after a hard foul, all contributing to stoppage time, none of them sanctioned. And in the 41st minute, we saw a Jashari shot just wide, but Tomori was down inured. He ended up playing through it, since it was so close to halftime, but had to be subbed off at halftime.
Tomori was replaced by Modrić, which helped stabilize things a bit, too, but also left Musah with more defensive duties than he is really capable of, amongst other things, which Bologna definitely exploited. Odgaard took a shot that was straight to Maignan, and easily dealt with. But in the 52nd, Ramos was down after apparently colliding knees with a Bologna player. You know, the kind of contact that can be dangerous? No cautions in sight.
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| A bittersweet match for Tomori, after the assist, the injury. |
Not even a whistle for Musah's handball two minutes later. And based on the refereeing, Odgaard used his full body to slam into Pavlović, who was down in the 55th, holding his hip. He had been taking a beating. Then Jashari was down. Like for a team with so many injured players, this laissez-faire approach to refereeing is genuinely terrifying.
Amorim made his first subs in the 58th minute, with Diawara replacing Estupiñan, whose existence I am beginning to question again, and Pulisic replaced Hutchinson. Those subs made an impact, all right, as two minutes later, Diawara and Bartesaghi were both attempting to defend, and the ball deflected off the back of Bartesaghi's leg and into the net. A brutal own goal to level it again at 2-2 all. Not the impact we wanted from our subs, that's for sure. And also, it felt like... some kind of omen.
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| The own goal wasn't even really Bartesaghi's fault – hope this doesn't affect his mentality. |
And that was all the momentum Bologna needed to take the game back. Two minutes later, Mbangula scored again for a brace. 3-2 Bologna. Amorim chose to pull Bartesagi off after that, which I get the sense that letting him play a bit might have been better for his mentality, but he also may have jsut been saving him for Saturday, who knows? Either way, that gave Camarda, who replaced him, nearly 30 minutes.
Jashari shoved Ferguson in the 66th minute. I'm just including that because there were times in the match that I would have loved to do that, too. Well done, Jashari. Unfortunately, Bologna were getting more dangerous now, as Cambiaghi had a shot that was only just wide in the 75th minute. Coming back from the three goals now felt... more than difficult somehow, even though we now had some of our better players on the pitch.
At least Camarda got some minutes in this one.
Pobega was shown a yellow card for fouling Pulisic. I just had to include that because he was our former player. Cisse, hungry for a Serie A hat trick after his Europa League hat trick vs. Salzburg, had a couple of good attempts, but Skorupski and the side netting got in the way of his dream. Camarda also had a header that went painfully just wide, that was heartbreaking, too, he just needs a goal for some confidence.
Unfortunately, it was Mbangula, who was actually on his first start with Bologna, who banged in his third for his hat trick in the 86th minute. 4-2 Bologna. And that felt like... when the dog dies at the end of the movie, even though you really had hoped he was going to make it. Amorim gave Comotto a few minutes, replacing Ramos with the young midfielder in the 87th minute. And we had one more difference maker attempt to pull one back in the 89th minute, when Pulisic had what looked 100% like a goal, forcing Skorupski into an even better save.
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| Always a difference maker. |
This is definitely now how any Milan fan saw this match going, much less how we had wanted it to go. There is always the question of how much was the Derby weighing on their minds when they took the pitch? But Amorim pointed out the most obvious reason for the collapse in his postmatch interviews, that the players looked exhausted from the beginning of the match. And, while he will hopefully learn better how to manage his players with more experience, of course they're exhausted. They just played six matches in 18 days, this was their second of three in seven days. And many have been playing more than their fair share of minutes due to injured teammates.
Yet, with the Derby on Saturday night, Amorim losing his first Serie A match midweek did feel a bit like an omen. Which could be good or bad, actually. Because, as Diavoli, being the spawn of Satan while facing mere snakes could definitely work in our favor. And dropping points and spots on the table can be a bit of a subterfuge for Inter, they may not see us coming for their soulless, vapid, coldblooded, slithering tails.
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| Amorim has been doing well, now he has to figure out if he can get some bodies back for Saturday. |
Or, it could be a warning for us, that we have no business playing a Derby with so many injuries and exhausted players. I'm not even sure how horror movies work anymore. Certainly, once again, as the cameras panned across our seven Milan Futuro players (including Bouyer and Vladimirov) sitting on the bench once again, as their teammates struggled simultaneously and dropped two points again, it felt like both teams were being punished. Either way, even though the pressure of being unbeaten is off now, Amorim will be paying attention to every detail ahead of the Derby after receiving this omen.
Saturday, October 31 • 20:45 CET (3:45pm EDT)*
Virtus Verona vs. Milan Futuro
Sunday, November 1 • 14:30 CET (8:30am EST)
Milan Futuro vs. Piacenza
Wednesday, November 4 • 14:30 CET (8:30am EST)
Reviewed by Elaine
on
Rating:
